Teacher creates a video on social media calling out Paso Robles Conservative club at the high school
PASO ROBLES — Within the last week, a Paso Robles Joint Unified School District (PRJUSD) teacher posted a controversial video on social media that has raised concerns among parents and community members.
According to Superintendent Curt Dubost, Kristin Usilton is a learning loss mitigation funded teacher at Bauer Speck Elementary School. Usilton posted videos to her Instagram page, which was then recorded by a student who follows her. That student then shared the video with other PRJUSD students, and from there, the video(s) have now been circulated through various social media platforms.
Usilton appears to have filmed the video(s) in a classroom. She has been a teacher in the Paso Robles district for six years and refers to herself as a dual immersion teacher in several social media outlets.
In the first video, Usilton starts by saying, “Of the justice of all the neglected Hispanic population on the west side still fighting just for their right to have an equal education. And if you think that I’m going to stop fighting, you got another thing coming.”
Usilton went on to say, “The Paso Robles Conservative club for the high school, you can go jump off a bridge. I’m going to post what they thought was a great show of support for the veterans, who I’m pretty sure would be absolutely offended by what they did on school campus. And had the LGBTQ population don’t that or the black or the Hispanic community members, we would have had our a– chewed out. Look at what they did today.”
Usilton then showed a video of students on Nov. 10 waving American and military flags in the Paso Robles High School parking lot. One student was also waving an “F– Biden” flag.
Later that same day, Usilton created a second video where she followed up by saying, “When I said ‘go jump off a bridge, I just meant go away, and I will not use that term again because of the incredible influx of messages I got about that. But if that’s what you focused on in that message, you’re kind of part of the problem.”
Full recordings of Usiltons videos can be found on social media.
The Paso Robles Press reached out to the PRJUSD Superintendent Curt Dubost for comment. There are currently two investigations in progress, one for the flag incident and another for Usilton’s video comments.
Dr. Dubost informed the Paso Robles Press that he would issue an official statement.
On Wednesday, Nov. 17, Usilton’s fiance, Eusebio Martinez Jr., informed the Paso Robles Press through Facebook that she was unavailable to comment due to the investigation. Martinez issued concern that the article is “ruining her good name” and requested it be taken down.
Later, at 2:35 p.m., the Superintendent of PRJUSD released the statement regarding the incidents.
“Last Wednesday, a student effort to honor Veterans Day was disrupted by a very poor choice to include a profane flag. This both detracted from the intended purpose of the demonstration and led to considerable disruption, including some postings and exchanges on social media that were completely inappropriate. The objectionable flag was up for a very limited amount of time; however, we in no way condone nor excuse this misguided action. Students will be appropriately disciplined in accordance with District policies.
Later that day, a District employee posted comments on social media regarding this event which were inappropriate, and the District is responding accordingly through the Human Resource office. The District will make it clear to all employees that as an employee of PRJUSD, social media is not the appropriate venue for criticism of our students and families and that we must conduct ourselves in a professional manner. The community is entrusting their children to our schools and employees. With this stated, we want to emphasize that the District does not tolerate threats on our employees or students, nor do we condone cyber-bullying.
The District will expand its efforts to hold joint activities which promote tolerance and unity. Veterans Day should be a day for patriotism and honoring service, not yet another politically divisive controversy. We call on the school community to come together as Roblans and Bearcats.”
This is an ongoing story and will be updated when new information is available.
