Nina Denson (San Gabriel Unified School District) and Washington Elementary School (KTLA screenshot)
A newly appointed elementary school principal in California may already be out of the job after she allegedly conducted an unauthorized active shooter drill during which she callously pretended to shoot and kill the young students.
Nina Denson, who has been the principal at Washington Elementary School in San Gabriel for less than a year, was placed on administrative leave after the San Gabriel Unified School District began receiving complaints about students being traumatized by the unauthorized lockdown drill, Los Angeles CBS affiliate KTLA reported.
The incident reportedly took place during Wednesday’s school day and involved children as young as 4 years old.
Jennifer Chavez, whose 6-year-old son is a first grade student at Washington Elementary School, provided the station with additional details about what allegedly transpired during the incident that she said left her son “really upset.”
“She proceeded to walk around campus and pretended to shoot people she saw using finger movements and banging on windows. From what I heard, she said to one of the students, ‘Boom. You’re dead,”” Chavez told the station. “The one shocking, surprising thing he said as a 6-year-old was, ‘I’m just really glad none of my friends died.’”
After she was finished mock-shooting students and teachers, staffers told the station that Denson made an announcement to students declaring that seven of their young classmates had been killed. Ann Bustamante, another upset parent, said that was particularly inappropriate.
“Can you imagine the trauma these children potentially could go through of just thinking, ‘Oh my God, my friend was killed’ or ‘I was shot and told I died,’” she told KTLA. “At the young age that these children are, it was very upsetting.”
Though Denson has only been placed on temporary administrative leave, Chavez said that she and others are hoping her absence becomes permanent.
“I don’t want her back here at all,” she told KTLA. “She does not have the trust of the community.”
Asked whether the disturbing scenario had been approved by the school district, San Gabriel Unified School District Superintendent Jim Symonds unambiguously stated to KTLA that the drill had not been approved. He further clarified that the manner in which Denson allegedly conducted the drill did not comport with district protocol.
In an email to parents obtained by KTLA, the district emphasized that point, stating that Denson’s drill did not “appear to have been in line with District protocols or best practices.” The district also informed parents that a teacher with about 20 years of experience would be taking over Denson’s duties for the time being.
The San Gabriel School Unified District did not immediately respond to a message from Law&Crime seeking additional details on the matter.
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