Fresno vice principal under investigation for calling Black teens "Section 8 people" and "ghetto girls" - Yahoo Entertainment

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A Northern California school administrator has come under fire after a viral video of him allegedly racially profiling Black teenagers was shared across social media platforms. Fred Veenendaal is a vice principal at Sunnyside High School in Fresno, California. He has been with the Fresno Unified School District for just under 15 years; however, his future now hangs in the balance.

A 27-second TikTok video provides little context for what led Veenendaal and a group of female teenagers to be at odds. However, the short clip does clearly reveal the vice principal’s thoughts about the Black students. While inside a housing subdivision, a teen recording the encounter is heard saying, “We’re minors,” as she asks why they are being harassed. At one point, he quips, “I’m a board of director here.”  Throughout the video, Veenendaal is shown on the phone, presumably with the police, before he says, “Officer, you got three girls here. Three Section 8 people. Ghetto girls.”

On Friday (April 21), the San Francisco Gate received a statement from the Fresno Unified School District addressing the ongoing investigation into Veenendaal’s actions. “We are aware of the video circulating, and the District started an investigation into the matter early Monday. The labels used in the video do not align with the high standards we have for our Fresno Unified leaders and staff,” read the statement. “Because this is a personnel matter, we will not be able to disclose any resulting information from the investigation. We want to assure our families that having respectful, inclusive, and loving adults serving in our school is of the utmost importance to Sunnyside and our district as a whole.” Veenendaal, who earns a six-figure salary, was placed on leave on Monday (April 17).

According to the publication, the latest incident comes on the heels of the one-year anniversary of a student walkout. Last May, hundreds of Bullard High, Edison, Sunnyside, Fresno High, and McLane High School teens staged a protest after violent and racist photos circulated. One of the images was of a white student wearing a white shirt resembling a Ku Klux Klan hood.

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Fresno vice principal under investigation for calling Black teens "Section 8 people" and "ghetto girls" - Yahoo Entertainment
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