It started with a video made in December and circulated online of an Iraqi-born Wilson High School student mocking an unnamed teacher during an off-campus party.

Now the student’s parents are claiming that school staff members are discriminating against their son because of his background, and are unjustifiably punishing him for what amounts to a free speech issue.

Jafaar Mohammad, a Wilson sophomore, was given a 15-day suspension as a result of the incident, according to e-mails and school system documents. The suspension was reduced to 10 days, and Jafaar was kept out of the teacher’s class.

The family told The Examiner their son’s rights per the school disciplinary policy have been ignored.

This story continues below
Advertisement

“We don’t feel he did anything wrong,” said Nada Alsoze Mohammad, the boy’s mother. “It was off school grounds, and he didn’t mention Wilson High School.”

Mafara Hobson, spokeswoman for Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee, refused to comment on the situation.

Wilson High School’s principal could not be reached Monday.

But according to e-mails sent by the Mohammad family and friends in December, January and February, Rhee and staff in her office have been informed of the case and have indicated that they would look into the allegations.

The video that set off the chain of events lasts less than 20 seconds and shows 15-year-old Jafaar making fun of a teacher’s sexual orientation and calling the teacher “the worst teacher ever.”

According to a letter from school performance officer Juliet Neil, the content of the footage became a school matter “when the student e-mailed the information and sent it to staff members.”

Mohammad insists he did not pass the video on to anyone and actually did not view it until he was called into an administrator’s office and questioned about it. He said he does not know who distributed the video.

Theresa Bollech, a parent advocate who has been helping the family, told The Examiner it oversteps the school system’s boundaries to punish a student about something said in a private home.

“The taping of the video incident should have been something that the parents should have dealt with,” she said.

dlevitz@dcexaminer.com