Black Lives Matter St. Paul is preparing to “shut down” Como Park Senior High School unless a teacher is fired for Facebook comments criticizing the school district’s discipline practices.

Organizer Rashad Turner said the group met Friday evening to plan its protest of Theo Olson, a special-education teacher at Como.

On Wednesday, Turner posted screenshots of comments Olson posted last week on a Facebook page for people who support the local teachers union. The comment thread that included Olson’s remarks has been deleted. Related Articles Black Lives Matter St. Paul cancels Crashed Ice protest

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In one post, Olson suggested Como is “enabling student misconduct” in a misguided attempt to keep students in school and out of the criminal justice system:

“Anyone care to explain to me the school-to-prison pipeline my colleagues and I have somehow created, or perpetuated, or not done enough to interrupt?” he wrote. “Because if you can’t prove it, and campaigns you’ve waged to deconstruct adult authority in my building by enabling student misconduct, you seriously owe us real teachers an apology. Actually, an apology won’t cut it.”

Turner also challenged another post in which Olson appeared to respond to Superintendent Valeria Silva’s stated goal of setting districtwide rules for phone rules in schools:

“Phones and iPad devices, used for social media and gaming. There have always been rules for ‘devices,’ and defined levels of misconduct,” Olson wrote. “Since we now have no backup, no functional location to send kids who won’t quit gaming, setting up fights, selling drugs, whoring trains, or cyber bullying, we’re screwed, just design our own classroom rules. Hopefully tomorrow’s settlement will begin to fix this.”

In an interview Friday, Turner characterized Olson’s remarks as “sweeping generalizations about black students.”

He said the teacher’s comments present a “perfect opportunity” for the city’s Black Lives Matter chapter to turn its activism toward St. Paul Public Schools, which has far higher rates of suspensions for black and American Indian students than for their peers.

“If all students can’t learn, they can’t be valued in the building, then no one needs to be in that building learning,” he said of Como.

Responding on Turner’s personal Facebook page, Olson offered to speak with Turner and explain his views. Olson said he supports Black Lives Matter and that he marched with the group last fall.

“I care deeply for all my students. Otherwise, why would I do it? We have a lot in common,” he wrote.

Olson went on to say that rather than putting students on a path to prison, he sees himself as “a link of the school to opportunity and freedom pipeline.”

Turner said he has no desire to speak with Olson.

Olson did not return messages for this story.

School district spokeswoman Toya Stewart Downey said in an email that the district is “aware of Mr. Olson’s comments on social media and will determine if followup is necessary.”

Turner said activists will meet with school district leaders on Monday.