BOSTON — Walk down the hallway of Oliver Hazard Perry Elementary in South Boston and you’ll see a “heritage” display that looks more like propaganda. A bulletin board for Hispanic Heritage Month features Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, and Juan Perón — communist dictators and strongmen whose legacies are soaked in blood. These are the figures now staring down at children as young as five.

Castro ruled Cuba through fear, jailing dissidents, crushing free speech, and forcing desperate families onto rafts across shark-infested waters. Guevara oversaw executions at La Cabaña prison and glorified revolutionary violence. Perón built a cult of personality in Argentina, unleashed secret police on opponents, and left the nation in economic ruin. To elevate these men as cultural icons is not education — it’s indoctrination.

Parents are outraged, and for good reason. Many families in Boston’s Hispanic community fled from exactly these regimes. Now their children are being told to celebrate the very tyrants who destroyed their homelands. The display has become an insult to families who lost homes, livelihoods, and loved ones to the brutality of these so-called “leaders.”

The controversy was first flagged by Caught in Southie, which reports that elected officials are hosting a Zoom meeting this Thursday at 6 pm for parents, teachers, and community members. Those who wish to attend can register here. The meeting is expected to draw frustrated families demanding accountability from school officials. At the center of it all is newly appointed Principal Brendan McGrath of Jamaica Plain. In an Instagram post dated August 12th, McGrath spok about encouraging students to “advocate for the social changes they care about,” but parents say the Castro and Guevara display shows exactly how political ideology is creeping into school culture. Instead of focusing on reading, writing, and math, Perry Elementary is accused of pushing leftist propaganda into classrooms.

What began as a bulletin board has erupted into a flashpoint. Parents say they won’t stay silent as Boston schools turn hallways into political battlegrounds — and they plan to confront Perry’s leadership directly.

If you’re a parent at Oliver Hazard Perry Elementary and would like to speak with Mass Daily News, please email us at editor@massdailynews.com.