‘A slap in the face’: Some in Wheeler High community oppose Trump’s visit

President Donald Trump’s planned visit to Wheeler High on Wednesday to tout his new savings plans isn’t sitting well with some members of the school’s community.

“It’s a slap in the face to the student body and everything I love about my alma mater,” said Sydney Spessard, who graduated from Wheeler in 2021.

Spessard was part of a group of students who unsuccessfully lobbied the Cobb County school board several years ago to change the school’s name. Joseph Wheeler was a Confederate general, and the school’s student body is one of the most diverse in the state. White students comprise 22% of Wheeler’s student population; Black students make up 34.5%; Hispanic students account for 26.7%; Asian students represent 12.3%; and 4.2% of the population is multiracial, according to state data.

The school also has a rigorous science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) magnet program, which attracts students from across the county. The program’s website says the student body speaks “dozens” of foreign languages. Spessard participated in the program and went on to study industrial engineering at Georgia Tech. She now works as an engineer.

“(At Wheeler) I learned all about the intricacies of the economy and how it should be handled and the fragility of world trade and all of that, all of those basic kind of formative years of learning that has now kind of informed how I think as an adult and how I perceive what’s happening in the world right now,” she said.

Wheeler High School is a minority majority school and has many students from immigrant backgrounds. Some in the community think President Trump shouldn't be allowed to speak at the school because they say his administration's policies don't respect the school's diversity and inclusiveness. (Courtesy of Cobb County School District)

Caroline Hugh, another Wheeler alum who also fought to change the school’s name, said Trump’s policies, such as cracking down on some forms of legal immigration and his opposition to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, contrast with “everything Wheeler represents.”

“Diversity and immigration, those are all things that make Wheeler unique,” she said. “It almost feels like the worst possible location to choose for this visit, and it feels like it was done top-down with probably very little input from anybody at the school.”

The school district issued a statement about the president’s visit, which reads in part:

“The Cobb County School District is honored that the President of the United States has chosen to visit the District for an event highlighting education and student achievement.

The visit provides an opportunity to showcase the academic excellence, exceptional educators, and high-achieving students that have made Cobb Schools a national leader in public education.”

“We look forward to welcoming the President and showcasing the high-quality academic choices which make Cobb the best place to raise a family,” said Cobb’s Chief Strategy and Accountability Officer John Floresta.

Other presidents have also spoken at Cobb schools. President George W. Bush held a rally at Harrison High School in Kennesaw in 2003. Then-Democratic nominee Barack Obama put on a town hall at McEachern High School in Powder Springs in 2008.

But some say Trump shouldn’t speak on school campuses because of some of the legal allegations directed toward him. The president recently paid more than $5.6 million to writer E. Jean Carroll after a 2023 jury found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming her. Carroll was one of more than two dozen women who accused the president of sexual misconduct. He was found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records to influence the 2016 presidential election by paying off a porn actor who said they slept together. Trump has denied all of the allegations.

Wheeler parent Jenny Peterson is also concerned about the allegations against the president as well as his administration’s policies.

“It’s predatory that this man is coming. Period,” she said. “First of all, this man does not belong any place that teenage girls go. That’s deeply problematic to me.”

While Cobb County has become more Democratic in recent years, the school board still holds a narrow GOP majority. There are four Republicans on the board and three Democrats. And Republicans still get plenty of votes in Cobb, as the county’s GOP voters cast the most ballots of any county in the May primary and June runoff for the Republican U.S. Senate race.

Trump will be met with a protest organized by Cobb Democrats and the nonprofit group Indivisible Cobb on Wednesday. Wheeler parent Vickie Blumenthal said coming to Wheeler doesn’t make sense.