“We are in the midst of our process, the due process, of investigating,” said Fernando Gallard, chief of communications for the School District of Philadelphia, in an interview with The Daily Caller News Foundation. “We expect the process to be done within a couple of weeks or so.”
Samantha Pawlucy, a 16-year-old student at Charles Carroll High School in Philadelphia, was ridiculed in front of her geometry class by teacher Lynette Gaymon for wearing a t-shirt expressing support for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
Pawlucy told a radio station that Gaymon likened the shirt to KKK garb and insisted that “this is a Democratic school.” Due in part to widespread outrage from conservatives—including Romney, who called Pawlucy on Wednesday to thank her for courage—Gaymon was switched to a different class.
Gallard affirmed the student’s right to wear the shirt, and said the district was supporting her “absolutely, from day one.”
“We provided support, we told [the Pawlucy family] that we were going to investigate, we removed the teacher from the classroom where the student was attending, and we have been in constant contact to provide for [Pawlucy’s] support,” he said.
District Superintendent Dr. William Hite released a statement of support for both the student and the teacher.
“We will also support and stand by Samantha Pawlucy, Lynette Gaymon and all of the children and adults who have become targets of hatred and venom by individuals who demand that a wrong be righted with another wrong. There is no room in our community for that type of behavior, and we will not let it take root in our schools,” he said in the statement.
Joyce Hoog, principal of Charles Carroll High School, declined to comment.
Romney supporters held a rally in support of Pawlucy as she returned to school earlier this week. But according to the family, she plans to attend a different school in the future.
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