A fifth-grade trainer in Massachusetts who held a “mock slave public sale” and used a racial slur in a classroom has been positioned on paid administrative depart, the district superintendent mentioned.
The trainer, who has not been publicly recognized, held the mock public sale in January throughout a historical past lesson on the economic system of Southern colonies, the superintendent of Public Colleges of Northborough and Southborough, Gregory L. Martineau, mentioned in a letter to oldsters dated Might 29.
Through the lesson, the trainer “requested two kids sitting in entrance of the room, who have been of shade, to face,” Mr. Martineau mentioned, and the category mentioned bodily attributes, together with enamel and power.
In April, the identical trainer learn a guide to the category that was not included within the core curriculum, and used a racial slur that didn’t seem within the guide whereas doing so, he mentioned.
“Holding a mock slave public sale is unacceptable,” Mr. Martineau wrote, noting that doing so violated the college district’s values.
He mentioned that he discovered of each episodes from dad and mom on April 24.
The dad and mom of scholars within the class met with each the trainer and principal, he mentioned, with out specifying when. He famous that the day after the assembly, “the educator inappropriately referred to as out the coed who had reported the educator’s use of the racial slur, which isn’t acceptable.”
Kathleen A. Valenti, who’s listed because the principal of the Margaret A. Neary College in Southborough, Mass., was additionally positioned on paid administrative depart from Might 6 to 16, in keeping with the letter.
Greater than 65 % of the college’s college students are white, and fewer than 2 % are Black, in keeping with enrollment information.
“Paid administrative depart permits for a radical and unbiased investigation,” Mr. Martineau mentioned. “At the moment, the district is engaged in due course of procedures with the educator who stays on depart.”
Ms. Valenti couldn’t be instantly reached for touch upon Sunday. The Massachusetts Academics Affiliation didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon Sunday.
Mr. Martineau apologized to oldsters and mentioned that he was in the end accountable.
“I acknowledge that there have been missteps on this course of that additional sophisticated the state of affairs,” he mentioned.
In March, investigators in Massachusetts mentioned they might pursue felony prices in opposition to six youngsters who participated in a “racist on-line chat” that included a “mock slave public sale.”
And in 2022, a North Carolina college board mentioned it could evaluation its scholar code of conduct and self-discipline insurance policies after white center schoolers pretended to promote their Black classmates at the same mock public sale.
