Lebanon Students Protest “Verbal Abuse”, Firing Of Teacher By Principal
Source: WISH-TV / other
LEBANON, Ind. — Before taking leave for Thanksgiving break students at Lebanon High School were shouting and marching in the halls of the school protesting the firing of a teacher by the school’s principal.
The students are accusing Lebanon High School principal Frank Meyer of often using foul and derogatory language towards students and staff, and also in the case of the firing of a teacher.
Gabriel Kellogg is a junior at Lebanon High School and ended up taking charge of the student protest on Tuesday as they demanded the administration take action against the verbal abuse they claim is happening.
“(Meyer) was very unprofessional and he was commonly giving derogative comments towards them like calling them ‘piggie’ or they’re ‘too ugly to get dates to homecoming’,” Kellogg said to WISH-TV.
In posed on Facebook, now-former Lebanon High School teacher Joselyn Hiatt claimed Meyer was verbally abusive and when she finally confronted him about it he fired her on the spot. The post reached students who said that was the final straw and began protesting on Tuesday demanding that Meyer be terminated.
They had planned to continue protesting on Wednesday, but when administrators told them that anyone seen protesting would be considered skipping class, the second protest was called off. Instead, Kellogg met briefly with school administrators on behalf of his fellow students on Wednesday to discuss the situation.
“That was to go over our demands and get perspective and see what they are doing but they had no comment at the time,” Kellogg said.
The school district sent a letter to parents addressing the accusations in which they said they would not comment directly on the matter publicly.
“We want to inform you that the administration has become aware of comments and dialogue on social media from and regarding a former school employee. We ask all to understand that we may not provide information regarding current or former employees confidential personnel information,” the letter said.
