Roughly 50 students protested before school at Mt. Horeb High School Monday morning over the school district's decision to place a teacher on paid administrative leave last Friday.
The district first informed parents in a letter sent last Friday, and Superintendent Steve Salerno followed up Sunday with another letter further clarifying the district's concerns.
The letter says the suspension is over images shown to students in a class, and that he and the high school principal met with some concerned individuals last Friday morning. The images, part of a documentary, depict women being being put into humiliating and forced-sexual scenarios, as part of a lesson on the preservation of dignity for all people. Salerno says the district supports the lesson objective, as do the concerned people who came forward.
Salerno's letter adds there were concerns about how the lesson was taught, primarily that the first day the documentary was shown by a substitute and not the teacher now on leave. He says that raised questions about whether a substitute was fully-equipped to talk with students about the topic and completely educate them through a guided discussion about the portrayal of women in media.
The school district says it is investigating the method by which the lesson was taught. Meanwhile, the district, as a mandatory reporter, contacted Child Protective Services. Also, the district called Mt. Horeb police.
For more information go to WKOW: http://www.wkow.com/story/35487087/2017/05/22/mt-horeb-students-protest-district-placing-teacher-on-leave