An assistant principal in a Connecticut elementary school was placed on administrative leave after a viral video uncovered that he allegedly used discriminatory hiring practices, according to Greenwich Public Schools.
Project Veritas, a guerilla journalism outlet, spoke with Cos Cob Elementary School Assistant Principal Jeremy Boland about his hiring process for elementary school teachers in newly released video footage. Boland said in multiple undercover interviews that he does not hire Catholic or conservative educators and attempts to hire candidates exclusively under the age of 30.
The undercover journalist asked Boland whether he found that individuals with religious views “tend to be more right-wing?”
“Almost all of them,” Boland said. “I’m not a huge expert on religion, but Protestants in this area are probably the most liberal. But if they’re Catholic — conservative.”
Boland dubbed Catholics “brainwashed.” When asked what Boland does when he finds out that a candidate is Catholic, he said, “You don’t hire them.”
Boland made similar comments about conservative job applicants, stating that he preferred hiring younger candidates as they tend to be more liberal. The assistant principal said that he designs his interview questions to help understand whether applicants are liberal or conservative.
“Have you had a lot of right-wingers applying?” the Project Veritas reporter asked.
“No, but I haven’t, I haven’t interviewed many because I feel like I’m able to screen it out,” Boland said.
He described a recent job posting, which he claims had 30 applicants. Boland said he only interviewed people under the age of 30 because “sometimes the older you get, the more set in your ways, the more conservative you get.”
In the same interview, Boland told the reporter that liberal educators at the elementary school teach kids “how to think” and decipher what is good and bad based on Democratic policy prescriptions.
“Believe it or not, the open-minded, more progressive teachers are actually more savvy about delivering a Democratic message without really ever having to mention their politics,” Boland said. “They’ll never say, ‘Oh, this is a liberal or Democratic way of doing this.’ They just make that the norm.”
James O’Keefe, the founder of Project Veritas, argues that Boland’s hiring practices are a violation of the state’s non-discrimination laws. (RELATED: Education Dept. To Investigation Middle School Over Minority-Only Coping Sessions)
A spokesman for Greenwich Public Schools told the Daily Caller that Boland has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.
“Late last evening, we were made aware of a video that had gone viral with a current administrator from Cos Cob School. We intend to do a full investigation and until that time, we will not make any public statements. We ask that you respect the investigation process during this time,” the spokesman said.
“We do not, however, support any opinions that promote discriminatory hiring practices based on race, religion, gender, or age in any way, and we want to remind our entire community that our curriculum policies and procedures are strictly enforced by our Board,” he concluded.