Sandy MalonePaso Robles, CA – An elementary school teacher is facing criticism after she posted a video criticizing the local high school’s conservative club on her Instagram and told the members to “go jump off a bridge.”
The incident began when the Paso Robles High School’s Conservative Club held a “Fly a Flag to School Day” event on Nov. 10 to honor the upcoming Veterans Day, KHSL reported.
In addition to American flags, one of the students flew a “F-k Biden” flag, another flew a Trump 2020 flag, and a third flew the Gadsden flag featuring a snake and the words “Don’t tread on me” during the event, according to the San Luis Obispo Tribune.
School officials later said that administrators quickly told the student with the “F-k Biden” flag to take it down, the Paso Robles Press reported.
But a teacher at Bauer Speck Elementary School was so offended by the action that she took to social media and posted a video she filmed in her classroom to express her disdain, FOX News reported.
“The Paso Robles Conservative club for the high school, you can go jump off a bridge. I’m going to post what they thought was a great show of support for the veterans, who I’m pretty sure would be absolutely offended by what they did on school campus,” Bauer Speck Elementary School teacher Kristin Usilton ranted in a video she posted to Instagram.
“And had the LGBTQ population done that or the black or the Hispanic community members, we would have had our a– chewed out. Look at what they did today,” her rant continued.
This is a teacher in Paso Robles, CA school district, telling Conservative Club kids to "jump off a bridge." We don't need this trash teaching our children. Retweet and share her ignorance. pic.twitter.com/fgfhoGhp5R
— Mayhem337 CMR 🇺🇸 (@ChadRickard) November 15, 2021
Usilton’s Instagram account has since been deleted, FOX News reported.
But before the teacher took down her Instagram, she posted a second video to clarify her message to the high school students, the Paso Robles Press reported.
“When I said ‘go jump off a bridge, I just meant go away, and I will not use that term again because of the incredible influx of messages I got about that. But if that’s what you focused on in that message, you’re kind of part of the problem,” the elementary school teacher, who has worked for the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District (PRJUSD) for six years, said in the follow-up message.
PRJUSD Superintendent Curt Dubost told the Paso Robles Press that he had launched two separate investigations.
The first investigation involved the incident with the obscene flag.
The second probe would investigate the comments Usilton posted to Instagram about the students, the Paso Robles Press reported.
“Last Wednesday, a student effort to honor Veterans Day was disrupted by a very poor choice to include a profane flag,” Dubost said in a statement. “This both detracted from the intended purpose of the demonstration and led to considerable disruption, including some postings and exchanges on social media that were completely inappropriate.”
“The objectionable flag was up for a very limited amount of time; however, we in no way condone nor excuse this misguided action,” the superintendent continued. “Students will be appropriately disciplined in accordance with District policies.”
However, Dubost did not commit to disciplining Usilton for her “inappropriate” Instagram rant in his statement.
“The District will make it clear to all employees that as an employee of PRJUSD, social media is not the appropriate venue for criticism of our students and families and that we must conduct ourselves in a professional manner,” the statement said.
The he warned that the school district wouldn’t tolerate cyber-bullying or threats towards employees or students, the Paso Robles Press reported.
Usilton’s fiancé, Eusebio Martinez Jr., contacted the Paso Robles Press on Nov. 17 and asked them to take down the story about the teacher’s Instagram rant.
Martinez told the paper that their story about Usilton was “ruining her good name.”
Holly Matkin
