A teacher in Long Beach, California, has been placed on administrative leave following claims that he circulated a racist and ableist image of a Black child in a private group chat.

The Long Beach Post reports that John Solomon, who teaches at MacArthur Elementary School in Lakewood and serves as secretary of the Teachers Association of Long Beach (TALB), is accused of sending a picture of a young boy wearing an ankle monitor. The image, captioned “My First Ankle Monitor,” also included remarks from Solomon suggesting that “runners,” a term mocking special education students, should wear the device. 

Solomon has denied sending the message, saying his phone was hacked. However, an internal TALB investigation dismissed that explanation as “not credible,” according to Black Enterprise. Investigators said the post was traced to Solomon’s phone number and that several recipients took screenshots to confirm what was sent.

Solomon’s lawyer described the allegations as defamatory and said legal action may follow because the union released details of its findings publicly. Although he resigned from TALB’s bargaining committee, Solomon has refused to step down as the organization’s secretary. The board cannot remove him unless members file a petition or he resigns voluntarily.

At a recent TALB meeting, teacher Manar Totonji urged colleagues to back a petition seeking Solomon’s removal, Black Enterprise reports, calling the alleged image “repugnant and racist.” Totonji added, “There’s collective disgrace and shame that we need to separate ourselves from.”

State Senator Lena A. Gonzalez weighed in as well, asking the Long Beach Unified School District to open its own investigation. “Racist, disparaging comments about any child in our Long Beach schools should never be tolerated,” she said, describing the image as “horrendous.”