Approximately 150 protesters attended an emergency meeting of the El Rancho Unified School Board Tuesday night, in order to voice their opinions on teacher and city councilman Gregory Salcido. Salcido was recently caught on tape giving a profanity-laced rant about the military to students in his U.S. Government class, casting sweeping dispersions about the type of people who join up, stating that they are bad students, “the lowest of the low.”
Among the crowd were several veterans in uniform, students, and members of the community in patriotic, and pro-military garb, some carrying flags.
A 17-year-old student in Salcido’s class surreptitiously made the recording when Salcido took offense to his wearing of a U.S. Marine Corps sweatshirt. The student was later identified as Victor Quiñonez, who comes from a Marine family and had enough of his teacher’s negativity towards the military.
Although there were only two items on the board’s agenda, neither pertaining directly to Salcido, that didn’t stop multiple veterans from making statements addressing the board about Salcido. The board attempted to steer the conversation away from Salcido as they couldn’t act on anything that wasn’t already on their agenda. A time for open discussion had not been allotted in the meeting’s agenda either.
The agenda for the evening, ironically consisted of selecting a law firm to represent the district, as they have presently been without legal representation for two months, followed by a closed-session meeting.
The board voted in favor of hiring the law firm Garcia Hernandez Sawhney, LLP as their legal representation; urged on, no doubt, by the public outcry voiced in the meeting.
“We need legal advice as our investigation continues,” said Superintendent Karling Aguilera-Fort in regards to the Salcido audio recording.
Salcido was suspended as of Monday pending the outcome of the investigation. It is not his first disciplinary action, as he has twice been placed on administrative leave. The first time occurred in 2010 for making comments to a female student that were deemed as threatening and racial in nature. The second time occurred in 2012 for striking a male student.
Approximately 150 protesters attended an emergency meeting of the El Rancho Unified School Board Tuesday night, in order to voice their opinions on teacher and city councilman Gregory Salcido. Salcido was recently caught on tape giving a profanity-laced rant about the military to students in his U.S. Government class, casting sweeping dispersions about the type of people who join up, stating that they are bad students, “the lowest of the low.”
Among the crowd were several veterans in uniform, students, and members of the community in patriotic, and pro-military garb, some carrying flags.
A 17-year-old student in Salcido’s class surreptitiously made the recording when Salcido took offense to his wearing of a U.S. Marine Corps sweatshirt. The student was later identified as Victor Quiñonez, who comes from a Marine family and had enough of his teacher’s negativity towards the military.
Although there were only two items on the board’s agenda, neither pertaining directly to Salcido, that didn’t stop multiple veterans from making statements addressing the board about Salcido. The board attempted to steer the conversation away from Salcido as they couldn’t act on anything that wasn’t already on their agenda. A time for open discussion had not been allotted in the meeting’s agenda either.
The agenda for the evening, ironically consisted of selecting a law firm to represent the district, as they have presently been without legal representation for two months, followed by a closed-session meeting.
The board voted in favor of hiring the law firm Garcia Hernandez Sawhney, LLP as their legal representation; urged on, no doubt, by the public outcry voiced in the meeting.
“We need legal advice as our investigation continues,” said Superintendent Karling Aguilera-Fort in regards to the Salcido audio recording.
Salcido was suspended as of Monday pending the outcome of the investigation. It is not his first disciplinary action, as he has twice been placed on administrative leave. The first time occurred in 2010 for making comments to a female student that were deemed as threatening and racial in nature. The second time occurred in 2012 for striking a male student.
Criticism of Salcido wasn’t limited to the meeting, as outcry from social media has prompted calls to the school district and even a harsh comment from White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, who stated, “I think the guy ought to go to hell.” Kelly, having been a Marine for over four decades and having lost a son in Afghanistan, went on: “I just hope he enjoys the liberties and the lifestyle that we have fought for.”
Featured image courtesy of Wikipedia
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