A Campbell High School teacher has been disciplined after claiming in a staff-wide email Wednesday that he would not teach immigrant students who are in the country illegally.
John Sullivan made the comment in response to a colleague’s email that included links to a report about students on the mainland being kept home over deportation threats as well as a guidebook for educators who teach undocumented youth and refugee children.
According to a copy of the emails obtained by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Sullivan wrote in response: “This is another attack on the President over deportation. Their parents need to apply for immigration like everyone else. If they are here in the US illegally, I won’t teach them.”
President Donald Trump last month directed his administration to more aggressively enforce immigration laws and accelerate deportations of those in the country illegally, making good on one of his campaign promises.
Sullivan did not reply to messages seeking comment. He has been licensed to teach in Hawaii since 2015 and is certified to teach psychology, social studies and sociology, according to the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board.
Campbell’s Ewa Beach campus is the state’s largest high school, with 3,125 students enrolled this school year.
About an hour after Sullivan’s email went out Wednesday morning, Campbell Principal Jon Henry Lee wrote to the school’s faculty and staff, asking them to refrain from using the school’s email system “to express political opinions or statements.”
Lee also said that under the Department of Education’s Code of Conduct Opens in a new tab “we are strictly prohibited from discriminating against, including harassing, any student based on his/her national origin. If a student is enrolled and registered in our school we will service them to the best of our ability just like all other students.”
A Department of Education spokeswoman said the incident was handled by the principal, who has discretion over employee disciplinary actions. She said the department does not disclose details of personnel issues.
“Appropriate action by the school was taken to address the situation,” DOE spokeswoman Donalyn Dela Cruz said.
Dela Cruz added that Hawaii’s public schools serve all students. “To suggest otherwise is in violation of the department’s code of conduct and board policy,” she said.
Under the labor contract for teachers, the DOE has the right to suspend, demote, discharge or take other disciplinary action against a teacher for “proper cause.” All disciplinary actions are subject to grievance procedures.
State Sen. Will Espero, whose district includes Campbell High, said he
was appalled after seeing Sullivan’s emailed comment.
“When I read it, I was both really angry and disturbed at the tone of the email. I believe that this is the last thing that any teacher in a public or even a private school should be circulating among his peers or other teachers,” Espero (D, Ewa Beach-Iroquois Point) said. “I support free speech, but in this case I believe the teacher crossed the line and needs to be reprimanded and counseled because it’s not his place to adjudicate or resolve matters of immigration or the impact of these actions on students, on children, on minors.”
Espero, who sits on the Senate Education Committee, said he hopes to see an apology from Sullivan.
“I would like to see this teacher apologize to James Campbell High School and to Ewa Beach for such an egregious remark and thinking,” he said.
Corey Rosenlee, the head of the teachers union, also said he could not comment on personnel matters but said the Hawaii State Teacher Association “strongly believes that every child has the right to an education, regardless of their immigration status.”
He added, “Our goal at HSTA is to ensure all students are treated fairly,
supported in the classroom and receive a quality education.”
