A controversial post on Instagram by a Watertown High School teacher has some students and state lawmakers disappointed.
This post by Watertown social studies teacher Jessica Walworth says "Happy birthday to this beautiful ADULT who can now be properly arrested when we march in D.C. this week at the women's march!"
"I was shocked that that's something that they're actually going to be doing, they aren't supposed to be putting them at risk of possibly being arrested or facing bodily harm during such a school-sponsored event," said Watertown senior Alex Zuehlke.
"My concerns are number one for the students’ safety," added fellow senior Mark Wagner.
Walworth is one of two chaperones taking a group of 13 students to Washington D.C. Thursday for the inauguration. It's a school-sponsored event witnessing the swearing-in of President-elect Donald Trump and touring our nation’s capitol.
On Saturday, students have the option to participate or watch the Women's March on Washington as long as they have permission from their parents. State representative and WTMJ Radio host John Jagler sent a letter to the superintendent.
“It is extremely disappointing a teacher serving as their escort would invite her students to join her in a protest and it's beyond outrageous that she would invite them to join her in handcuffs," said Jagler.
He doesn't think that's the role of a teacher. Neither does Watertown school superintendent Cassandra Schug.
"We would never put our students in danger and certainly Ms. Walworth would never want to put our students in danger either, certainly I was very disappointed to see that Instagram post," said Schug.
Superintendent Schug also adds it's absolutely important for teachers to remain neutral when it comes to politics in the classroom. TODAY'S TMJ4 did try to track down Walworth so we could ask her about the field trip and her Instagram post, but school was canceled Tuesday because of the bad weather.
Be sure and try our new SNOWCAST APP! It is the "snow equivalent to STORM SHIELD" - a great new product that gives you high resolution snow forecasts for any part of the nation! It has just been introduced for iPhones, but we are working on the Android version! Just search SNOWCAST in the App Store or click here.
