A Florida computer lab teacher, Veronica Fleming, at the predominately Latino Parkside Elementary School in Naples, Florida, had her job "reassigned" after she made the mistake of publicly supporting Trump's immigration policies over Facebook. Apparently irked by all the "Day Without Immigrants" protests around the country (see "'Without Us, Your Country Is Paralyzed' - Undocumented Workers Plan Boycott 'Day Without Immigrants'"), Fleming wrote a post on her Facebook account that she was "so glad to hear about massive deportation."
"The funny part about immigrants staying home is the rest of us who pay for them are here at work like we've always been. Looks like less mouths to feed today. Have fun while you still can. So glad to hear about massive deportation. Let's make America great again. Thanks Donald Trump!!"
Of course, as a local NBC affiliate reported, it didn't take long before the principal of Parkside Elementary started receiving calls from outraged parents demanding Fleming's immediate dismissal over the controversial post that was allegedly written during working school hours. Though she has not yet been fired, Fleming was moved to "administrative duties" by the district pending an investigation of her conduct.
Per the Daily Mail, Principal Tamie Stewart made the following comments regarding the incident:
"We greatly appreciate our parents who have communicated to the school to share concerns so that we can address this issue."
"I want to ensure our families that this person’s individual post is not at all reflective of our school staff in any way."
The demographics of the school in Naples, Florida, is a majority of non-white pupils, with 70% Latinos and 20% Haitian, which likely contributed to the outrage among parents.
Unsurprisingly, parents have already started an online petition describing Fleming's post as "explicitly racist and extreme" while also calling for Fleming's immediate dismissal.
Veronica Fleming is a teacher at Parkside Elementary School in East Naples.
We want to bring this to the attention of Collier County Public Schools so that they can evaluate this instructor's explicitly racist and extreme views and proceed accordingly.
We understand that as a private citizen Mrs. Fleming should be allowed to express herself, however, as an educator at a school composed of predominantly Hispanic, Haitian, and students of other minorities, one should always be professional and behave as an impartial authority figure that is held to higher standards.
Veronica's status was posted between 8a.m. and 9a.m. on Thursday, Feb 16th. At that time, Mrs. Fleming was already at work and may have been in her classroom facing the very same young children of immigrants to whom she refers on her post as "less mouths to feed".
Please sign and share this petition. For our children. Thanks.
Why do we have a sneeking suspicion that Veronica is now being actively vetting for a position in the Trump White House?
NBC-2.com WBBH News for Fort Myers, Cape Coral & Naples, Florida