WINDSOR — The Oliver Ellsworth School in Windsor unveiled a new mural Monday, more than three months after a display featuring President Obama was painted over.
Parents and former students were furious when they discovered in November that a 7-year-old mural featuring President Obama was suddenly painted over as part of planned maintenance. The painting happened on Election Day, when the school was closed for the day in order to be used as a polling place.
The mural featured President Obama’s likeness, student signatures and icons from other historical events of that time.
School district officials say the mural space was going to be used to showcase other student work and the painting over had been planned well before the outcome the tense 2016 election was determined.
“Parents are upset and I understand that,” said Dr. Craig Cooke, Superintendent of Windsor Public Schools said at the time. “I think it was very poor timing and there wasn’t any communication to families about what we were going to do. ”
Parents and former students gave the board of education an earful during the board’s meeting that Tuesday night.
The school community wanted to retain the painting, but, the school came up with a compromise.
Monday night, they unveiled a canvas mural — which looks a lot like the old one, commemorating the original mural. The school plans on making another mural that will depict Windsor‘s diversity and education system.
