New Orleans alternative school principal fired over participation in monument protests, Nazi rings
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — The principal of an alternative charter school in New Orleans has been fired after video surfaced of him wearing rings associated with white nationalists and the Nazi movement.
Nicholas Dean was principal of Crescent Leadership Academy, the school where students are sent if they are expelled.
He was removed from the school Monday after photos surfaced of him next to Confederate flags at the Lee Circle monument protests. Dean told Nola.com that he was only there to observe a historical event and wasn't there to take a side on the issue.
But that was before a YouTube video was published showing Dean wearing the white nationalist rings and before it was discovered that Dean was interviewed on a podcast of The Revolutionary Conservative.
Recovery School District Superintendent Kunjan Narechania released the following statement in response to Dean's termination:
The children of New Orleans should be able to trust that educators value their humanity, respect them as individuals, and will treat them with a sense of fairness and equality. Educators are role models, and they should prioritize this sacred role above all else. Any educator who is unwilling to prioritize and respect the humanity of all children has no place in schools.
I have spoken with the board leadership of Crescent Leadership Academy and understand that the board has made a decision to remove the school's current leadership in light of recent events. While the circumstances surrounding this decision are regrettable and damaging, I appreciate the board making a swift decision so that school can move forward and so that our community can continue to heal.
