Florida school fires principal who wouldn’t call Holocaust ‘factual’

A school board is forced to a fire a principal a second time after he appeals his dismissal over a controversial email about the Holocaust

A school principal in Florida was fired for a second time in a unanimous vote by the Palm Beach County school board on Tuesday for refusing to acknowledge the Holocaust as a “factual, historical event”.

The principal had already been fired over an April 2018 email obtained by the Palm Beach Post in which he claimed he could not cite the Holocaust as a “historical” event, writing: “I am not in a position to do as a school district employee.”

William Latson, who had previously been removed from the job before appealing his firing to an administrative law judge in August, was voted out a second time this week, the New York Times reported.

The school board voted unanimously to adopt a final order declaring the school principal “did commit misconduct in office, incompetency, and gross insubordination” which provided “just cause for his suspension” and dismissal.

His “actions caused a great number of people to doubt the commitment of the School District to honor its statutory mandate to teach its students that the Holocaust did occur and caused further disruption within the SRHS community,” the school board wrote in its final order.

The principal took to social media in the wake of his firing, defending his position in the email while saying he was “not a Holocaust denier”.

“I have never been a Holocaust denier,” he said. “I am sorry that my comments caused people to think that.

Mr Latson may appeal the board’s decision to fire him in Florida court.

The principal was fired a second time after a judge reviewed his appeal and allowed him to be reinstated, citing the school’s “progressive discipline” policy which gives employees a chance to correct certain issues before facing dismissal.

However, the school board noted in its final order that the policy was never meant to apply to a principal.

“There is also no mandatory progressive discipline policy requiring any heightened showing for termination to be appropriate,” the board wrote.

Mr Latson has not responded to media requests for comment.