Noose allegedly found in Washington Academy teacher’s classroom, investigations underway

EAST MACHIAS, Maine (WABI) - Washington County lawmakers want Maine’s Attorney General to open a formal investigation into a report that a noose was found in the classroom of a Hispanic teacher at Washington Academy.

According to a letter sent to a lawmaker by the teacher’s husband, the noose was found in his wife’s classroom in March.

The letter says she wasn’t immediately aware of its significance and didn’t report it.

However, after seeing news reports of other similar things happening, she told her husband what she’d found, and they viewed it is a racist death threat.

The school wasn’t made aware of the incident until July.

TV5 spoke with a lawmaker and Washington Academy’s Head of Schools.

“We will not tolerate racism at Washington Academy, and I had that same message to our faculty at our opening workshop,” said WA Head of School Judson McBrine. “It’s not what I’m about, and it’s not what Washington Academy is about. We despise any racist acts, and we’ll stand up against them.”

“If indeed a hate crime is found to have happened, it certainly cannot be let pass because the noose is just unacceptable,” said Rep. Will Tuell. “It’s disgusting and revolting and has no place in our community.”

The school has hired an outside investigator to look into the situation and has hired an outside entity to conduct an equity audit at the school.

Tuell says the Attorney General is looking into the situation.

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