Farmington Hills parent speaks out after student allegedly draws swastikas while in class
A Farmington Hills mother is calling for changes after a student allegedly drew swastikas and an image referencing Hitler at Warner Middle School.
"This took my breath away. The picture is the only word I can use to describe it is demonic. It is so detailed. The anger in the clown's eyes," said parent Kristina Millman-Rinaldi.
Millman-Rinaldi says it was only the second day of school when she got a call from her daughter's teacher. She says a student sitting near her seventh-grade daughter had allegedly drawn swastikas and an image referencing the Nazi leader while they were in class.
Farmington Public Schools Superintendent Kelly Coffin says another student alerted the teacher, and both the student and the drawing were removed from the classroom within two minutes.
"We're talking about seventh-grade students, 12 years old, and wanting to make sure that first and foremost is that everybody is safe, and then the second is then working on what does reintegration look like back into the school community," said Coffin.
Coffin says the student was suspended and will not share classes with Millman-Rinaldi's daughter for the rest of the school year.
But for Millman-Rinaldi, the concern goes beyond discipline.
"Parents have the right to know that this is going on in the schools and what the action is going to be, and I'm not talking about communication in two or three weeks. I'm talking about quick and effective communication," said Millman-Rinaldi.
Coffin says she has since spoken directly with Millman-Rinaldi and acknowledges the parent felt her initial concerns weren't taken seriously at the school level.
"She did share how she didn't feel heard, or she didn't feel taken that her concerns were taken seriously at the building level, and we talked through that," said Coffin.
The district is now working with the Anti-Defamation League and Defeat the Label on resources and says its community engagement director is working with both families.
Millman-Rinaldi plans to take her concerns to the Farmington Public Schools Board of Education on Tuesday night.