A Christian school in California has issued an apology to parents after a teacher shared a video of four- and five-year-old students being led in an anti-Joe Biden chant.
The video, which the Washington Post reported was recorded a month ago at Turning Point Christian School in Norco, Calif., shows students sitting in a circle while a teacher leads them in a call-and-response chant.
At first, the chant could almost be a lesson in general civics as the teacher asks the students who the president is. When they respond with his last name, she in turn asks “What do we want to do with him?”
The student callback involved making a “get out” gesture while chanting, “We want him out!”
The video was originally shared on a private app that the school’s staff uses for parent communication. The Post reports:
Christina McFadden was on her lunch break on Feb. 18 when she saw the video. She spotted her daughter in the crowd.
“My initial reaction was fear,” McFadden, 35, told The Washington Post in a Facebook Messenger exchange. “Fear that this was sent to 14 families with differing views. Fear that it appeared to be a political propaganda video and that it would spread as such with my daughter front and center.”
The school removed the video within hours of it being posted. The apology followed:
“[The video] did not share our school and church philosophy of honoring and respecting authority including those in government positions,” Linda Solorzano, the preschool director, wrote in the note, which was reviewed by The Post.
“We are sorry for any misunderstanding this could [have] created,” she added. “With courtesy toward the families of our campus and the children in the classroom I am asking you to please not share with others or post the video on any social media platform.”
The video was later posted to parent Christina McFadden’s social media account because she was unhappy that the teacher was not disciplined and because of the school’s overall response.
“The teacher remains in the classroom because, according to the school she is ‘repentant and has learned from her mistake,’” McFadden wrote in the March 12 post.
McFadden, a teacher with a master’s degree in educational leadership, also said she’s disappointed her daughter’s teacher “was so proud of this content.”
“We as Americans have the right to determine who and what we believe in,” she wrote. “We as parents have the right to determine the beliefs and values we want to instill in our children. A teacher does not have the right to indoctrinate her students.”
Turning Point Christian School is a ministry of Turning Point Church, offering classes from preschool through sixth grade. The school Website’s “About” page says that TPCS, “has an excellent reputation in the community as a caring, dedicated, professional staff. Our small classrooms offer challenging academic curriculum that is balanced with creative programs for physical, spiritual, and social growth. Our mantra is ‘Soaring to Excellence’ and we believe academic excellence thrives within a challenging program that requires students to be engaged, active learners while developing Christ-like character.” The church’s Website describes it as, “a friendly, lively, multi-generational, multicultural church,” that includes, “dynamic worship, powerful preaching, and a creative children’s program.”
Turning Point school’s March newsletter offers a monthly memory verse, Romans 12:2, “Do no conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is— his good and perfect will.” It also notes that March 21-25 is “Born in the USA Week,” during which classes will learn about different states; the week will end with an Elementary Spring Show in the Turning Point Church building for which the newsletter notes, “Students should dress in patriotic attire.”
While McFadden said that the TPS has “a lot of wonderful teachers,” she has since removed her 5-year-old daughter from enrollment at the school. The Post’s report says that the administration has not publicly acknowledged the video.
Read the entire story here.
Image credit: Photo by Yan Krukov from Pexels
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