Teacher Suspended After Pro-Trump Yearbook Photos Altered

A New Jersey school district suspended a teacher Monday after yearbook photos of two high school students were altered to remove President Donald Trump’s name on their clothing.

However, it remains unclear who altered the photos or why. One student wore a sweater vest with Mr. Trump’s name on it; another student wore a T-shirt emblazoned with the words “Trump Make America Great Again.” But neither feature appeared in the photos published in the yearbook.

The only reason a student’s image would be altered is if it was in violation of the district’s dress code, such as clothing referencing drugs, alcohol or violence, the school district has said.

In addition, a Trump quote submitted by the freshman class president wasn’t included under her photo, while a quote by President Franklin D. Roosevelt appeared under the senior class president’s photo.

Grant Berardo said he was shocked when he saw the yearbook photo of him, minus the Trump reference.

“I sent it to my mom and dad, just like ‘You won’t believe this.’ I was just overall disappointed,” he said. “I like Trump but it’s history, too. Wearing that shirt memorializes the time.”

Wyatt Dobrovich-Fago was surprised but not initially concerned when he saw Trump’s name wasn’t on the sweater vest he wore for his photo.

“[I thought] maybe they just cropped it out, and it wasn’t something I should worry about, they just did it,” he said.

Then his sister, Montana, noticed the Trump quote she had submitted to run with her class president photo had not been published. “‘I like thinking big. If you’re going to be thinking anything, you might as well think big.’ By Donald Trump,” Montana said, recounting the quote.

Her brother then started questioning what had happened. “I’m like, well, that’s kind of crazy, two things against Trump in a way,” Wyatt said.

Berardo’s father wants the school district to republish the yearbooks with the unaltered photos.

This article appeared in print on page 5 of the June 13th, 2017 edition of Hamodia.