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Renaissance at Rand Principal John Putrino showed the video of a man yelling about the tribulations that remote learning posed for children during a "welcome back" event over Zoom, Baristanet reports.
Superintendent Dr. Jonathan Ponds had the tech team stop the video as the Zoom comment section became flooded with comments from staff calling the video offensive, the outlet said.
Ponds subsequently emailed an apology for the video to staff.
"Like many of you, I was offended by the content," he wrote.
"Please know that this unfortunate incident is not a reflection of the inclusivity of our district and our ideals. We are handling this matter internally."
The assistant principal of the Renaissance school, Major Jennings, will replace Putrino, NorthJersey.com reports.
The president of Montclair's NAACP branch, Albert Pelham, issued a statement demanding action by the district's Board of Education Wednesday.
“Principal Putrino has a history of complaints of racial insensitivity during his tenure as a leader in the Montclair School District,” Pelham said. “While we appreciate the intervention of Superintendent Ponds during the incident, we believe that the District needs to take immediate action to remedy this situation."
Putrino served as principal of Glenfield, Hillside and Northeast schools before assuming his role at Renaissance at Rand. He is also president of the Montclair Principals Association.
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