Oregon Educator on Administrative Leave for Wearing Blackface to School in Protest of the District’s Vaccine Mandate

An educator at a Newberg, Oregon elementary school went to work wearing blackface last week to protest the school’s vaccine mandate.

On Monday, the Newberg Public School District announced the employee had been placed on administrative leave. The district declined to name the person, but another staff member told KOIN that the woman is “a special education assistant” named Lauren Pefferle. 

Pefferle used iodine to darken her face and said she intended to look like Rosa Parks to protest the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employees.

“It is important to remember how Blackface has been used to misrepresent Black communities and do harm,” the district said in a statement. “We acknowledge the violence this represents and the trauma it evokes regardless of intention.”

This is the second incident of racism the district has had to contend with in the last week. It was discovered that Newberg High School students had a group chat titled “Slave Trade.” In the conversation, the students discussed how much they would pay for their Black classmates at a slave auction. 

“We’ve seen some dehumanizing and deeply disturbing expressions of racism in recent days involving our district. As always, our deepest concern is for the wellbeing of our students and our staff.” Superintendent Dr. Joe Morelock said in a statement. “Every day, we work toward building an environment where every student is welcomed and safe, and where there is absolutely no tolerance for racist or bullying behavior.” 

The school board voted to ban political symbols in August, including Black Lives Matter and Pride displays. In addition, a visiting girls’ soccer team knelt during the national anthem in solidarity with the school’s Black students.