Idaho teachers are under investigation after dressing as a 'Make American Great Again' border wall and Mexican stereotypes in sombreros for Halloween

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November 2, 2018 8:31 PM

The costumes were worn during the day at Idaho's Middleton Heights Elementary School on Halloween.

Staff at an Idaho elementary school are under investigation by their school district after dressing as a "Make American Great Again" border wall and Mexican stereotypes in sombreros for Halloween.

Photos of the staff's costumes were posted by the Middleton School District on Facebook but later deleted, according to the Idaho Statesman.

The photos, which were screenshotted and shared elsewhere, showed several teachers at Middleton Heights Elementary School dressed as the "wall," posing behind cardboard panels painted like bricks with the words "Make American Great Again" spelled out in red, white, and blue letters.

Others were pictured wearing brightly colored ponchos, fake mustaches, and sombreros, with one hat spelling "Mexican" on the brim.

The costumes were worn during the school day on Halloween.

Middleton Superintendent Josh Middleton posted a video on the district's Facebook page on Friday denouncing the staff costumes and apologized to families in the district.

"We are better than this," he said in the . "We embrace all students. We have a responsibility to teach and reach all students — period."

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Middleton said he was shown the photos by a parent who was upset by the images.

"Do I think there was a malicious intent with this decision? No, I don’t," he added. "Was there a poor judgment involved? Absolutely. And we now have to own those decisions."

Middleton said that district administrators are actively investigating the incident.

"I was shown those photos and was deeply troubled by our staff members (who chose to) wear those costumes that were clearly insensitive and inappropriate," Middleton said. "...Our time right now is going to be devoted to investigating those events and those poor decisions that were made."

According to 2017 census data, 9.5% of Middleton’s population of about 7,400 are Hispanic or Latino.

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