She knows how painful it can be for people to see their family members behind bars. She recalls how once, when she spoke about her job to her daughter's class at Miami Beach's South Pointe Elementary School, one boy raised his hand to share how his dad was previously incarcerated. Another described how he and his family had been detained when they first arrived in the United States.
So when Knapp arrived last Friday, October 25, at South Pointe Elementary's Halloween fundraiser — an annual event staged by the school's Parent Teacher Association (PTA) and known fondly as "Spooky Night" — to see a mock jail cell where parents could pay $10 a pop to photograph their children behind bars, she was appalled.
The mock jail had been erected over objections voiced by Knapp and other parents.
"This is supposed to be an International Baccalaureate school. Their mission is to develop caring young people who wish to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect," Knapp tells New Times. "It's one of the reasons I am happy to have my daughter there."
Knapp says the jail cell booth is a tone-deaf spectacle, all the more so at a school where some families have firsthand experience with incarceration.
"It's the opposite of respect and caring and intercultural understanding," she says. "It's callous and insensitive and traumatizing."
She also notes that the PTA had previously staged the mock cell but excluded it from the past two Spooky Nights after the former PTA president — Knapp's husband — threatened to resign over it.
His term has expired, and the board members promptly brought it back.
"I didn't think they would do this again," she says. "I thought we'd put it to bed."
Emailed Objections
New Times obtained three emails Knapp and two fellow South Pointe parents sent to the PTA before the 2024 event, admonishing the organization to abandon the concept. In their messages, the parents used words like "inappropriate," "harmful," and "tacky."
"I promise you, there is nothing fun, funny, or joyful about the inside of a jail. Before you use it as a prop, consider taking a walk through the Turner Guilford Knight Center or Krome Detention Center here in Miami," wrote one parent, an immigration attorney. "Please, use your better judgment and consider another photo booth. I don't volunteer for much, but I'd be happy to redecorate the photo booth in the future."
In her own email, Knapp emphasized that the jail cell is all the more inappropriate in light of former president Donald Trump's ongoing threats to round up and deport immigrants.
"Some of the immigrant families in the South Pointe community may be fearful that their loved ones are at risk of being detained. It is insensitive and offensive to make light of this fear and pain by inviting children and their families to take, share, and fundraise from photos of smiling faces behind bars under the name of our elementary school."
The PTA's response: The cell wasn't going anywhere.
In an email to one of the objectors, a PTA board member noted that he and his colleagues had unanimously approved every element of the event. "We've heard nothing but enthusiasm for our decisions up to this point, but it is a monumental task to please 100 percent of people," he wrote. "As you might know, the board and many other parent volunteers have been working extremely hard preparing for our Friday night event. We feel this could be our best Spooky Night ever."
A different board member addressing one of the other parents emphasized that the jail cell photo op has proven to be a hit with attendees and a veritable cash cow.
"This is something that was a part of Spooky Night several years ago and was used for many years until the wear and tear got to it," she wrote. "And it has brought in additional funding for the school. I’m not sure if you attended in the years we have done it, and without knowing the details I don’t think it’s fair to [judge].... This is a nationwide fundraiser that's done across the county, not meant to be offensive to anyone, yet very fun, very elementary-school appropriate."
On that last point, various Google search combinations of terms like "jail," "photo," "booth," and "fundraiser" return only a few examples of similar installations. The most relevant was a list entitled, "Classic School Carnival Games for Kids," published on the website PTO Today.
The list, which was originally published in 2010 and most recently updated in April of this year, contains an entry called "Jail," which reads:
"Kids can put a classmate in jail, and then his friends can bail him out. Or you might recruit teachers and administrators to sit in a jail cell until a certain amount of donations are received. Some communities find this inappropriate, but others love it, especially for engaging tough-to-please tween boys."
The PTA has not responded to a request for comment New Times sent via Instagram DM.
