The principal who was fired over his comments about the Holocaust has been rehired with back pay.
William Latson, the former principal of Spanish River Community High School in Florida, has been rehired with $152,000 in back pay following his dismissal over Holocaust comments.
In 2018, Latson informed parents that he aims to be “politically neutral” by not forcing students to learn about the Holocaust because “not everyone believes the Holocaust happened.”
After an upset parent replied to the principal saying that the Holocaust is a historical event, Latson insisted that students will not be forced to learn about what he referred to as a “belief.”
“I can’t say the Holocaust is a factual, historical event because I am not in a position to do so as a school district employee,” the principal wrote in response to parents’ concerns.
“I do allow information about the Holocaust to be presented and allow students and parents to make decisions about it accordingly. I do the same with information about slavery, I don’t take a position but allow for the information to be presented and parents to be parents and educate their students accordingly.”
In October 2019, after the principal’s comments had resurfaced and made rounds on the internet, Latson was fired from his position for failing to acknowledge that the mass slaughter of Jews was real and providing students with an option to opt out of Holocaust lessons.
Following one year after his dismissal, however, Latson has been rehired by the school district and compensated $152,000 in back pay.
As a judge ruled back in August, the principal should be rehired because the school district allegedly failed to provide sufficient evidence proving that Latson “engaged in misconduct in office, incompetence, or gross insubordination by a preponderance of the evidence.”
Following the judge’s ruling, the Palm Beach County School Board decided to rehire the high school principal with back pay in a 4-3 vote. While the school district accepted the judge’s ruling, they expressed their reluctance to do so.
While the former principal of Spanish River will no longer work at the high school, he will work as a “principal on assignment” at the school district’s assessment department.
Replaced!