The school community is rallying to bring back a beloved teacher in Sacramento, Calif.
NEED TO KNOW
- Jeanine Rupert, a sixth-grade teacher who taught at Phoebe Hearst Elementary in Sacramento, Calif., was reassigned after she reportedly pulled up a carpet in her classroom that covered tiles containing asbestos
- An investigation from the school district found the carpet removal did not disturb the tiles that would lead to potential asbestos exposure for the students
- Students and parents have protested Rupert’s reassignment
A beloved sixth-grade teacher’s reassignment from her California school over removal of a carpet in her classroom has prompted protests and a walkout from students and parents.
The controversy began at the end of last school year at Sacramento’s Phoebe Hearst Elementary when the school experienced a flea infestation, NBC affiliate KCRA and ABC affiliate KXTV reported. It was then, according to parents, that Rupert pulled up part of the carpet.
But according to the Sacramento City Unified School District, the carpet covered tiles containing asbestos which, if exposed, can cause health issues such as lung cancer and mesothelioma. It is not certain whether Rupert knew about the asbestos before removing the carpet…