PORTSMOUTH — Math teacher Kara Kelley said she remains on paid administrative leave, and has apologized to school officials, since she was video recorded in a classroom dressed as Donald Trump and dancing to a song with a chorus of "F (expletive) Donald Trump."

A Portsmouth High School teacher, Kelley said Monday that since the video and news about her politically charged classroom dance was shared nationally, she's been threatened, her professional career is uncertain and she had to get permission to vote at a city school Tuesday, because she's barred from all school property, until further notice.

When she goes to vote Tuesday, Kelley said, she'll be voting for Hillary Clinton and will be wearing the $10 suit she bought at a Savers thrift store for her now-infamous Donald Trump costume.

Kelley said she was placed on administrative leave Oct. 31 when she wore the blue suit and a Donald Trump wig to school because it was Halloween. She said the head of a school department previously dressed as Trump at school for "Twin Day" event, so she didn't think it was a problem.

"I figured if he can wear a Trump costume, I can wear a Trump costume," she said. "It was Halloween, I thought it would be fun and I liked it."

Kelley said she dances in her classroom "all the time" because she thinks it's "important that my students feel comfortable and ready to learn and hear what I'm saying."

"I may have already been dancing," she said, when a student began playing the song with the "F- Donald Trump" lyrics.

"I never heard the song and didn't know what the lyrics were and I was really just dancing a little to it and feeling the beat," she said. "After a while, I realized they were saying 'F- Donald Trump' and I said, 'Guys, guys, we've gotta stop, we've gotta get back to work, let's shut it down' and we did. I shouldn't have let that go on and when I figured it out, it was too late."

Kelley said that Portsmouth students are supposed to have their phones turned off and "put away" while in class.



Shortly after the 90-minute class was over, Kelley said, she was told by school officials that a student had sent the video to a parent and she was advised to contact a union representative and go to the administrative office. Kelley said she was asked if she had a change of clothes, to which she asked an administrator if the department head was asked the same question when he wore a Trump costume to school. When she was told no, Kelley said, she replied that she wasn't going to change out of her Trump costume.

Kelley said she was then told she was on paid administrative leave. She said while she was being escorted out of the high school by a school officials, they stopped in her classroom so she could retrieve personal items and "there was already a sub in there."

"Mind you, during this whole meeting I'm still in a Trump costume," she said. "I was escorted out of the building in a Trump costume."

That night, Kelley said, she wore her Trump costume in the Portsmouth Halloween Parade and danced in front of a New Orleans jazz band along the parade route.

"It was very cathartic," she said.

In the meantime, the Portsmouth Herald's story, about Kelley being removed from her classroom, because of the song and dance, was shared nationally. Kelley said complete strangers contacted her through social media, some making cruel comments and others making "threats of bodily harm."

On Nov. 3, she said, she had a meeting with her union lawyer and attorneys for the city and that she read the following apology:

"I am sorry that I let the music (expletive) Donald Trump play in my classroom. In an instant, I let inappropriate music be played by a student in my classroom, something I will try and prevent in the future. I should have been more aware of the fact that cell phones allow students to make recordings, musical outbursts, and other distractions in the middle of class, and that sometimes, like here, a relaxed classroom atmosphere is not the best classroom atmosphere. That is doubly true in the middle of a highly charged presidential race. I do not regret wearing a Donald Trump costume to class on Halloween, but I do regret letting matters get beyond my control in class. I will be more aware of that in the future and endeavor to not let something like that happen in my class again."

Kelley said she has heard that school officials want to punish her with an unpaid week of suspension, but is still waiting for official notification, while on paid leave.

"If I get a week suspension I would grieve it," she said. "I feel like I've apologized to (school officials) and I'm looking forward to apologizing to my students. Let's get back to business as usual."

On Oct. 31, Superintendent of Schools Steve Zadravec announced Kelley had been removed from her classroom and said, "There is no place for offensive language in our school community, nor is it our practice in school to support or discredit political candidates." Later last week, Zadravec said there would be no further comment from the school department and he reiterated that on Monday.