The removal of a Samohi photography teacher over student initiated photographs depicting semi-nude students sparked a serious protest at the SMMUSD School Board meeting on Thursday night.
Two months ago, Allan Barnes, an arts instructor at Samohi, found himself no longer teaching at the school after photos students captured of their semi-nude classmates were reportedly found uploaded onto a school computer.
The photos, which reportedly do not reveal any private parts, were discovered on a school district server. It was not made clear by Samohi or Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD) officials whether Barnes had resigned or was dismissed.
A contingency of supporters attended the SMMUSD meeting on Feb. 16 urging board members to reinstate the art instructor.
At heart of the issue is whether Barnes is in the wrong for allowing the depiction of semi-nude images to be shot on campus grounds and subsequently uploaded onto a school computer and server.
Conversely, a case can also be made that the photographs, which reportedly reveal commonly acceptable bare portions of the human body, are artistic in nature and therefore no wrongdoing occurred.
Neither Barnes nor school board officials were immediately available for comment.
Please follow The Mirror next week for more in-depth coverage on this issue.
