A viral post circulating on Facebook this week by a Bethel High School parent that claims her children were removed from class because their clothing was “too republican” is not true, according to the Bethel School District.
The Facebook post has accumulated more than 30,000 reactions and 106,000 shares.
The post was made Tuesday by Angela Bailey and said that her kids were wearing Carhartt hoodies, bootcut jeans and Romeo boots.
“The kids were told by staff at Bethel High School that their clothes were ‘too republican’, ‘too country’, ‘white supremacists’ and ‘racist’. I fail to see a problem with these clothes,” Bailey wrote.
Bethel School District officials confirmed Bailey is a parent of Bethel High students but that there is “no validity” to the Facebook post. The district serves about 20,000 students in southeast Pierce County.
“The post is not an accurate representation of anything that happened at Bethel High School. Students have always been allowed to wear sweatshirts, Carhartts, jeans, and boots. There is nothing in the Bethel High school dress code that prevents this,”said district spokesperson Doug Boyles in an email to The News Tribune on Thursday.
“These students were not asked to leave school and at no time were they pulled out of class,” Boyles added. “The conversation and inflammatory comments between the teacher and students reflected in the Facebook post did not take place.”
Bailey could not be reached for further comment as of Thursday afternoon.
Some people who commented on the post said they were outraged while others doubted Bailey’s claim actually happened.
District officials said they have responded individually to calls and emails from concerned parents and the public.
The post also led to confusion with other Bethel schools across the country. Bethel Local School District in Tipp City, Ohio, had to clarify that it is not the Bethel High School referenced in the post.
“There is a negative post about ‘Bethel High School’ circulating social media re: the removal of students because of specific clothing & political affiliation. THE SCHOOL IN POST IS IN WASHINGTON. THIS IS NOT Bethel High School in Tipp City OH,” the district tweeted Wednesday.
