BY ANNA LARIONOVA

Conn McCartan, principal of EPHS, tweeted an opinion on presidential candidate Donald Trump Nov. 6 after Trump spoke at the Minneapolis airport. He didn’t speak on behalf of the district or school, and he didn’t tell people who to vote for. He even stated facts, mentioning that Trump got third in the Minnesota GOP caucus, which is true.

Controversy flooded Twitter when students felt that EPHS was endorsing his tweet, especially when he wrote “#allMNrejectstrump,”but he can write whatever he wants on his personal account. He’s allowed to say his personal opinions because they’re not meant to be taken as the school’s opinions. Besides, McCartan had a good reason to be upset. He said, “Fly in, call members of our community a disaster, fly out.” If he felt concerned that his students were attacked by Trump, he had the right to tweet about it

Just because he has a different opinion than some of his students, he still loves all of them. His focus is on a safe and productive learning environment, and Trump’s comments on the Somali population of Minnesota attacked part of his school’s population. He can try to empower students and assure them that they are accepted, and I think that’s what he was going for.