Idaho teachers placed on leave after MAGA border wall Halloween costume

Middleton School District superintendent Josh Middleton announced the decision Saturday at a special school board meeting.

Dawn Onley

Nov 4, 2018

Idaho TheGrio — Idaho teachers wearing #MAGA border wall Halloween costume. (ABC7 screenshot)

Elementary school teachers in Middleton, Idaho had the perfect Halloween costume idea, in their Trump-esque minds: they’d go as his border wall.

Teachers who wore #MAGA border wall costumes at Idaho school put on paid leave https://t.co/q6JFtcjVXT

— Star Tribune (@StarTribune) November 3, 2018

Pictures, which were posted on the Middleton School District Facebook page but have since been deleted, showed the group dressed up as a border wall with the phrase “Make America Great Again” on it, according to CNN. In a second picture, another group of educators were dressed up with sombreros, carrying maracas and wearing fake black mustaches, which some parents called racist.

Superintendent Josh Middleton called the costumes “clearly insensitive and inappropriate” in an apology video. The teachers have been placed on paid leave, according to the StarTribune.

“We are better than this, we embrace all students who have a responsibility to teach and reach all students,” Middleton said.

There was probably no malicious intent, he added, just poor judgment. Middleton said the district would be conducting an investigation.

“We now have to own those decisions,” he said. “I’d just again want to share what’s going on and express my sincerest and deepest apologies to our families, to our patrons.”

Beth Almanza, an immigrant rights advocate with the Idaho DACA Students group called the photos “extremely disheartening” and “heartbreaking,” according to CNN.

“Imagine how some of the students felt when they walked into their classrooms on Halloween and saw their teachers (people they look up to) dressed like this?” she posted in a now-deleted Facebook post. “Students deserve better.”

In a Facebook post on Friday, the Idaho Education Association condemned the costumes.

“The messages conveyed are the antithesis of the beliefs and values of the Idaho Education Association and its dedicated members throughout the state,” the organization wrote.

According to data compiled by Idaho Ed Trends, almost 13% of the school’s population is Hispanic, according to Idaho Education Trends.