A furry costume and Mr. Frattini isn’t a combination most would see until May 22, 2019. On that day Mr. Frattini was emailed by Mr. Botello about an image that circulated on the internet. The image in question is him in a furry costume. Mr. Botello wondered why he would wear such a thing, but asked him about it first through email.

Furries are people who create themselves as humanized animal characters, a fursona. Mr. Frattini doesn’t have a fursona and wondered “what are they trying to imply.” Despite to what some would see as inappropriate, Mr. Frattini chuckled and even complimented the image, calling it a very good photoshop in terms of composition. What he disliked was what the image suggested but isn’t surprised since his being photoshopped has been going on for roughly a year now. Other teachers have reported seeing other photoshops of Ms. Woods and Mr. Rossi.

After his 1st period, Mr. Frattini confronted a student he believed was the culprit during passing period since they were in the room next door. The student claimed to have no involvement in the photoshopping or knowing who made it. Mr. Frattini believes that the student didn’t make it but has doubts that they aren’t familiar with the culprit.

Since May 22, Mr. Frattini has recovered and laughs about the situation. He’s not concerned with privacy issues since the image was public. If he knew who did, he’d ask them to stop but knows that isn’t going to happen anytime soon. He hopes that the next photoshop isn’t as bizarre as a furry but he has no preference on what they’ll photoshop him next, which they will inevitably do.

This scandal has brought into attention to the issues surrounding photoshopping, a rather new phenomenon. Not even Pinole Valley’s millennial teachers had photoshopping when they were in high school. Mr. Botello acknowledges that most teachers aren’t aware, even though in his years of teaching he’s seen an increase in photoshopped teachers.

Most teachers wouldn’t mind being photoshopped, under certain criteria. They just want to be consulted first. They also ask for nothing offensive and suggest those would photoshop don’t use it for bullying. Most teachers acknowledge that it could be used for silly fun. When asked, Mr. Botello said him in a Corona bottle would be funny and Ms. Deinhard would be Mystique from X-Men.