Maplewood teacher pulled hijab off second grader's head, Olympic fencer alleges

The South Orange-Maplewood School District is investigating a claim that a teacher at Seth Boyden Elementary School in Maplewood removed the hijab of a second grade student, the district said in a statement.

The statement came after an Instagram post from Ibtihaj Muhammad, an Olympic bronze medalist in fencing and the first Muslim American Olympian to compete for the U.S. in a hijab. In the post, Muhammad, a Maplewood native, said the teacher "forcibly removed" the hijab in class.

"The young student resisted, by trying to hold onto her hijab, but the teacher pulled the hijab off, exposing her hair to the class," Muhmmad said in the post.

Muhammad called the incident abuse and urged people to call the district and denounce the incident.

"By protecting Muslim girls who wear hijab, we are protecting the rights of all of us to have a choice in the way we dress," she said.

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The post has over 36,000 likes and over 1,000 comments.

In its statement, the school district said it was investigating the matter after receiving a flood of social media posts.

"Today, we were made aware of an allegation of discrimination and immediately began an investigation," the statement read. "The district takes matters of discrimination extremely seriously."

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The New Jersey chapter of the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NJ) called for the firing of the teacher in a press release Friday.

"Anything less [than a firing] is an insult to the students and parents of Maplewood, CAIR-NJ Executive Director Selaedin Maksut said in a statement. "Forcefully stripping off the religious head scarf of a Muslim girl is not only exceptionally disrespectful behavior, but also a humiliating and traumatic experience." 

The school district's statement said that the teacher involved would be granted due process, and said that social media was not a "reliable forum" for due process.

"We remain committed to diversity, equity and inclusion throughout our schools including providing anti-bias and anti-racism training for all educators in the district on a regular basis," the statement said.

Gov. Phil Murphy tweeted late Friday afternoon: "Deeply disturbed by these accusations. Our diversity is our greatest strength and every child should feel safe and welcome in school, regardless of their race, religion, or culture. We fully support [the school district's] investigation into the matter."

Liam Quinn is a breaking news reporter for NorthJersey.com. To get breaking news directly to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter.

Email: quinnl@northjersey.com

Twitter: @Liam_D_Quinn