LOS ANGELES — An elementary school teacher who reportedly shared a racist image in a group chat with colleagues has been placed on administrative leave as the Long Beach Unified School District investigates the matter.

John Solomon, a fourth- and fifth-grade teacher at MacArthur Elementary School, is being investigated for allegedly sharing an illustration of a children’s ankle monitor on a Black child and joking the school could use those for its “runners,” a nickname for special education students prone to wandering off, according to the Long Beach Post.

On Thursday, the Long Beach Unified School District said it does not “condone conduct that is disrespectful, discriminatory, or harmful.”

“This matter is under investigation, and the employee has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome,” the district said in a statement. “Personnel matters are confidential, so we cannot comment on individual employee situations.”

The image was shared in a group chat among the teachers union bargaining team and was then included in an internal investigation conducted by the teachers union, according to the Long Beach Post. Someone in the group chat responded to Solomon’s text after he shared it and said, “That image is troublesome on many levels.”

Solomon allegedly responded, “Yeah. I see that.”

But he has denied sending the image and claimed that his phone was hacked, according to the internal investigation, the Post reported.

Solomon declined to comment when contacted by the Los Angeles Times via email. The Teachers Association of Long Beach did not respond for a status update on whether Solomon has stepped down from his role with the union. The school district did not reveal how long Solomon has worked as an educator in Long Beach or when the district became aware of the incident.

The district’s decision to place Solomon on administrative leave arrives after a public outcry and calls for Solomon’s resignation.

In a statement, Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson’s office said he and a group of elected officials “are outraged that a member of the Teachers Association of Long Beach’s Executive Board, John Solomon, shared a racist and ableist message with TALB’s negotiations committee. Such behavior is unacceptable, harmful to Black students and students with disabilities, and unworthy of any leader in education.”

The statement was co-signed by Council members Tunua Thrash-Ntuk, Joni Ricks-Oddie, Long Beach Unified School Board Member Erik Miller and Long Beach City College board members Uduak-Joe Ntuk and Ennette Morton.

On Tuesday, California state Sen. Lena Gonzalez issued a public statement calling for a thorough investigation by the school district.

“Racist disparaging comments about any child in our Long Beach schools should never be tolerated,” she said. “But learning about the racist text and photo shared by an LBUSD teacher, who is supposed to have the trust of colleagues, students and parents, is horrendous.”

Gonzalez’s comment came after it was not immediately unclear whether the district would conduct its own investigation into the matter. The Long Beach Post reported that the district failed to initially probe the allegations made against Solomon, who remained on the job until recently.

Teachers within the district have also asked for Solomon to be ousted from his position as a union member via a recall campaign. The effort to remove Solomon started over the summer and teachers are sharing petitions at schools.

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