Utah County Teacher On Administrative Leave After Politically-Loaded Discussion With Students
Aug 17, 2021, 10:48 PM | Updated: Aug 18, 2021, 7:40 am
LEHI, Utah – The Alpine School District said Tuesday evening a teacher is on administrative leave after a video emerged online of the teacher involved in a politically-loaded discussion with students which covered topics ranging from people who choose not to get vaccinated, climate change and LGBTQ issues.
In the 4:18 video clip, which appears to have been taken by a student, the Lehi High School teacher is heard saying, “I hate Donald Trump. I’m gonna say it. I don’t care what y’all think. Trump sucks.”
She goes on to tell the students, in regards to COVID-19, “This is my classroom and if you guys are going to put me at risk, you’re going to hear about it. Because I have to be here, I don’t have to be happy about the fact that there’s kids coming in here with their variants that could possibly get me or my family sick, that’s rude.”
She also tells the students in the video, “If you don’t believe in climate change, get the hell out” and “if you’re a homophobe, get out.”
The Alpine School District released a statement about the video Tuesday evening, which said in full:
We became aware late this afternoon of an incident that took place today in one of our high school classrooms. An immediate investigation ensued. The employee has been put on administrative leave pending a thorough investigation. This behavior is inappropriate, not reflective of the professional conduct and decorum we expect of our teachers, and will not be tolerated.
Tuesday was the first day of school for the Alpine School District.
The clip was posted on rumble.com by Eric Moustos, a former Salt Lake City police officer who resigned after he objected to riding a motorcycle through the city’s gay pride parade in June 2014. More recently, Moustos has spearheaded the Utah Business Revival, which held large rallies in 2020 to protest government restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic. The clip is all that Moustos released and it’s unclear what happened before or after the recording.
