‘We are taking it seriously.’ P-O reacts to racially insensitive photo shared by student
The Philipsburg-Osceola Area School District is investigating an incident in which a student imitated the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and shared the image on social media.
The student, a rising senior at Philipsburg-Osceola , shared an image of himself on the ground with a second individual kneeling on his neck. The photo was captioned, “I can still breath(e). I’m not dead, something is off here.” — mocking Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who died after a police officer knelt on his neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds in Minneapolis.
“I saw the post, and we definitely do not condone anything like that at Philipsburg-Osceola,” Superintendent Gregg Paladina said Wednesday. “We are taking it seriously, and we are still investigating.”
Though the incident did not occur on school grounds, Paladina said the district has spoken with the student and his family as administrators decide how best to move forward.
“The parents personally regret it, and I know he personally regrets it, but it’s not acceptable whatsoever,” Paladina said. “It’s a fine line, and I know people want to see action, but we’re investigating ... certainly, none of us agree with the post. We thought it was wrong.”
