A school district in Connecticut is investigating a claim from a parent that a teacher used the N-word twice and racially profiled her son in front of a class full of students at Sedgwick Middle School, the Hartford Courant reports.
The parent, Che’La’Mora Hardy, said her 13-year-old son, who is Black, came home from school “distraught and confused” Friday after the alleged incident.
Hardy says the teacher was giving a lesson on unacceptable language when her son spoke up and denied using profanity. The teacher then responded that there are "other types of words that you shouldn’t be using.”
When Hardy's son told the teacher he didn't know what she was referring to, the teacher replied by saying the N-word, at first with the "er" ending, and second with the slang version, ending in "a."
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Hardy claims the teacher told the class that teachers can use the word but students cannot.
“We have had a policy in the district, and provided training in the past, that racial slurs, charged language and other things of this sort are never to be given voice by anyone in our schools, not by our teachers, not by our students, not by our volunteers,” Superintendent of Schools Paul Vicinus said.
“There’s absolutely no place for it. So this is a matter that we take very seriously,” Vicinus said.
At a Tuesday night board meeting, West Hartford Board of Education Chair Lorna Thomas-Farquharson said the board had been made aware of “an allegation of a racial slur uttered in the presence of students.”
“We would like the community to know that the Board of Education and the district administration take these matters seriously and remain committed to our vision, to value and honor all of our community. The district’s administration is investigating thoroughly” she said.
“I want to express that although we have done extensive training to create school environments that are inclusive and equity driven, we know that our work is never done. The defining factor for our district and our community lies within how we respond, how we come together to ensure our students feel safe, valued, and seen for who they are,” Thomas-Farquharson said.
Hardy said that her son no longer feels safe at the school.
“My kid just wants to go to school and feel safe and he doesn’t feel safe right now.”
Read the full report over at the Hartford Courant.