An elementary school board member in Florida is under fire from social media users after leading children of the school to a bar and grill with a gay clientele. – Picture via Facebook/ Broward School Board Member Sarah Leonardi District 3
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 29 – An elementary school board member has been heavily critcised on social media after leading a school fieldtrip children to a bar and grill with a gay clientele.
The storm erupted after Broward District 3 School Board Member Sarah Leonardi shared pictures of the visit on her social media that was bombarded with negative comments.
Leonardi, a high school teacher herself, had chaperoned children from the Wilton Manors Elementary School in Florida to Rosie’s Bar and Grill.
According to the Miami Herald, while Rosie’s Bar and Grill in Wilton Manors serves everyone, its menu can be a little risque.
The description on the menu for the “Left One” chicken breast sandwich, for example, is “‘Cause sometimes the left ones are bigger!”
Then there are the “Rhoda Cowboy,” “Miley High Club” and the “Young Ranch Hand”.
Leonardi said she stands by the decision to participate in the field trip.
“As a School Board member, I am committed to staying engaged with my community.
“I’m always proud to join classes for field trips and events, especially when our schools are connecting with the vibrant small businesses in my district.”
Since her post went viral, Leonardi said she and her family and friends “have been attacked with bigoted comments and death threats”.
“These attacks have no place in our society,” she said, adding that she had referred the matter to the authorities.
Meanwhile, John Zieba, one of the owners of Rosie’s Bar and Grill, said he was confused about what all the fuss is about as children from the school have been coming to the restaurant for field trips for about a decade.
“It’s a great experience for the kids to come in and learn how restaurants operate,” he said, adding that the educational value was in the children not only learning math skills from the prices on the menu, but also to see what kitchen managers, chefs and servers do for a living.
“Everything’s just been blown way out of proportion for ridiculous purposes,” Zieba noted.
Zieba said the restaurant was also not spared after Leonardi posted her tweet, and has gotten phone threats.
Although the majority of his customers are LGBTQ, Zieba said the restaurant serves anyone who sits at the table or bar.
“We welcome everybody. Every race, colour, creed or ethnicity,” he said.
Zieba said he was disappointed that what he and his staff consider an innocent and educational field trip has attracted so much negative attention.
“In the end, they ordered some food and coloured a pumpkin.”