Brainerd High School Yearbook Under Fire

The 2016-2017 Brainerd High School yearbook has come under fire after a comment made in the yearbook by a Brainerd High School student.

A page in the yearbook asks students about their thoughts on President Donald Trump.

One of the four students that commented about President Trump was a sophomore who said, “I would like to behead him,” and “I do not like him”.

Brainerd Public Schools declined to comment but noted they released a statement on the school district’s website.

Brainerd Public Schools administration says they have been notified that the 2016-2017 yearbook contains highly disrespectful statements from students about political figures, including the president. The administration says they were unaware of the students’ statements in the yearbook and the district does not support or otherwise endorse any disrespectful or politically based statements that are in the yearbook and apologizes for the statements that were included.

The school district says they support free speech, however the disrespectful statements in the yearbook are contrary to the basic educational mission of the district and should not have been included in a school-sponsored publication.

The administration is currently investigating how this occurred and is reviewing the district’s processes to ensure that this does not occur in the future.

The administration says they deeply regret the existing processes for reviewing the yearbook that did not result in the removal of the inappropriate statements.