Maine Public School Led Elementary School Kids on "Black Lives Matter" March Instead of Math, Literacy Classes

Portland’s Presumpscot Elementary School cancelled math and literacy classes one day in March so that staffers at the public school could lead students on a “Black Lives Matter” march, according to videos posted by the school and emails obtained by Parents Defending Education.

A video posted to Portland’s Presumpscot Elementary School’s Facebook page on March 4, 2023 showed teachers leading young students in a march on the street while chanting “Black Lives Matter” and holding signs reading “antiracist baby” and “speak up”.

Watch the full video below:

“Our students are the next leaders of this country and world,” the caption read. “I know because of them it will be a more just place.”

Documents related to the event obtained by Parents Defending Education, a national grassroots organization that opposes activists in schools promoting harmful agendas, gives insight into the planning of the BLM march and the driving forces behind the political agenda imposed on kids by Presumpscot Staff.

One internal email dated January 26 shows the sharing of a Google Doc entitled “BLACK LIVES MATTER MARCH,” with the message “Please look at the brilliance of these kiddos – this is 100% their planning led by <33333.”

The document, which was apparently written by students with the help of an unnamed teacher, gives an agenda for the BLM march along with numerous slogans and goals.

The first page appears to be a list of chants. The second page is list of plans, including telling students to wear “MLK t-shirts or all black,” “Make bigs black lives matter centerpiece [sic],” and “Go into classrooms and say hi were from the civil rights team and this month were here celebrating black lives matter [sic].”

The third page tells students to make posters about MLK and other Black leaders, hang up fists around the school, have a “march with a message,” try food from different cultures, read quotes from Black activists daily over the loud speaker, and to read books by Black activists.

See the full planning document below:

A January 9 email in response to this document reads, “Love, love, love.”

One student’s mom also responded to the plans by saying, “I just want to say thank you being so clear in your messaging. It is meaningful and powerful and I hope all the kids at school feel empowered.”

An email dated February 9 reveals that the march was planned and led by the school’s 5th grade civil rights team.

In a February 13 email, another 5th grade teacher sent an email to a redacted recipient about how one students’ family reached out to the teacher concerned that their son hadn’t yet had the opportunity to read a quote over the intercom for Black History Month.

The teacher reassured the parents that there was still plenty of time for him to read a quote.

In the same email, the 5th grade teacher stated that she had reached out to several organizations to plan visits to their school for Black History Month, including the Maine Human Rights Commission, The Holocaust & Human Rights Center, and the Refugee & Human Rights Clinic at Maine Law.

The BLM march was later rescheduled to March 3 due to snow.

A February 28 email from a 5th grade teacher gives the schedule for Friday, March 3.

Regular math and literacy classes were cancelled in order to accommodate a presentation from Maine’s Holocaust and Human Rights Center about immigration and the BLM march.

In response to that scheduling email, a redacted sender wrote “Once we are through conferences, I will need to refocus reading/language lessons to more foundational skills. I am noticing that decoding skill development has stalled a bit.”

In response to that scheduling email, a redacted sender wrote “Once we are through conferences, I will need to refocus reading/language lessons to more foundational skills. I am noticing that decoding skill development has stalled a bit.”

Another teacher commented on the plans for BLM march warning other teachers of the possible disruption the march would cause.

“On Friday the halls will be quite bustling and noisy,” the commenter wrote. “I imagine students will be starting with a chant of ‘BLACK LIVES MATTER’ and marching through the halls.”

In reply, a kindergartner teacher wrote that they would “have a chat” with their class to “help them understand on their level what BLM means.”

The same teacher also asked for suggestions for a video or “read aloud” to introduce the concept of BLM to 5- and 6-year-olds.

“In an ideal world, some of my students will have some background knowledge and will be able to explain the movement in their own words to their peers. :)” the teacher wrote.

A separate teacher commented to express their disappointment that they could not be present at the march and “witness this empowerment and activism.”

A project assistant of the Office of the Maine Attorney General working on the Civil Rights Team Project congratulated the Presumpscot staff on the BLM march.

Leading a Black lives matter march was just the tip of the political activism iceberg at Presumpscot Elementary, however.

One document from February 27 shows plans for a substitute teacher telling student to work on assignments entitled “HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST SLIDESHOW” and “HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST RESEARCH.”

An email from March 7 shows a classroom picture in which a teacher is presenting a slideshow containing a sign reading “Refugees are human beings,” and the “Pyramid of Hate,” a diagram created by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) meant to demonstrate how “biased attitudes” can lead to genocide.

Additionally, correspondence between a Portland Public Schools social worker and a 5th grade Presumpscot teacher detail plans to have 4th and 5th grade students read from a script and wave flags during community meetings.

The social worker and 5th grade teacher agreed to have the students wave flags and read a scripted “Land Acknowledgment,” a statement meant to profess solidarity with Indigenous Peoples’ claims to their traditional territories.

Presumpscot Elementary is in the Portland Public School’s district, a district which in 2021 voted to budget an extra $2.9 million to advance equity and “address achievement and opportunity gaps.”

Though one teacher expressed worries over stagnating fundamental reading skills, Portland Public Schools remains committed prioritizing political activism in its classrooms.

READ: Portland Public Schools 2021 “Resolution Supporting Equity in School Climate and Discipline and Ending Use of School Resource Officers”:

See the full emails obtained by Parents Defending Education Below: