Please Follow us on Gab, Minds, Telegram, Rumble, Gettr, Truth Social, Twitter
Trumbull Public Schools shared a message with families indicating the district would have extra police presence at the building and district level today in light of the attention Mr. Richard's social media posts have garnered. It is unclear at this time whether any further steps have been taken in response to the posts. Emails and calls to the school remain unanswered.
Parents in Trumbull, Connecticut, were shocked and horrified to see an elementary school teacher in the district posting inflammatory, anti-American comments on Facebook in the wake of Donald Trump's resounding victory on November 5th.
Now these parents are left to wonder exactly what traits the teacher, Todd Richard, plans on instilling in students in light of his Facebook post that said, "F*ck this stupid country" and included that he had "#NoAllegiance."
At one point he even updated his profile picture to drive home the point he had "no allegiance" to his country.
One commenter offered words of encouragement to Mr. Richard, telling him not to give up. "Democracy is worth it. No one said it would be easy," the person wrote.
But Mr. Richard, who is listed as part of the Physical Education staff at Tashua Elementary School, didn't want to hear it.
"F*ck that. Democracy is dead. This is war," he angrily wrote under his original post, which included an image of a document from Tashua School.
The school takes pride in rewarding students who display positive behaviors known as "T.I.G.E.R.S." -- the traits include Tolerance, Integrity, Generosity, Empathy, Responsibility and Self-Control.
Parents are concerned about Mr. Richard's ability to promote these traits "when he's apparently lacking such traits" himself, and alleged this isn't the first time he's crossed a line, either.
In fact, hundreds of parents joined in a discussion about the inflammatory posts in a private, Trumbull-focused Facebook group that has 6.8k members.
Most parents agreed the posts were troubling, and hoped the district would take action.
A few parents came to Mr. Richard's defense, and felt his comments should be protected under the freedom of speech. These same parents said it was wrong for people to share the unhinged posts.
It's important to note that teachers have a responsibility to be cognizant of the influence they have on the community per the Connecticut Code of Professional Responsibility for Teachers and the Trumbull Public Schools Code of Ethics, Policy 4118.22.
The Centinal spoke with a number of parents in the district who are familiar with Mr. Richard's social media posts and who agreed to speak with us anonymously.
The parents felt Mr. Richard's comments were "unhinged" and expressed concern about his mental state and whether he would be able to act professionally, especially, for instance, if a parent or child wore a MAGA shirt or hat to school.
"Is he going to go to war with my child if he knows I'm a Trump supporter," worried one of the parents.
Another parent wondered, "What if my child comes into school with a Trump shirt on? How's this teacher going to respond to my child in front of the other children? Will my child get singled out and bullied or laughed at? This isn't something I should have to worry about when my child goes to school!"
Parents also complained that their tax dollars were being "wasted" to fund "anti-American teachers" who had "no allegiance" to this country.
"At some point, enough is enough. The people teaching our children should be proud of our country. They should pledge their allegiance to the United States of America," said one father. "We should absolutely not be funding teachers who hate America and think our country is stupid!"
A number of parents have contacted the district to express their concerns.
The Centinal also contacted Tashua Principal Jennifer Neumeyer, Superintendent Dr. Martin Semmel and the Trumbull Board of Education to request a comment, and have not yet received a response.
Teacher, teacher of what how to indoctrinate our children. The border is still open. Bye.