Massachusetts teacher on leave after holding mock slave auction and using racial slur, official says

A fifth-grade teacher in Massachusetts has been placed on paid leave after a series of incidents, including holding a mock slave auction, using racial slurs and calling out the student who reported the slur, a school official said.

Officials have not named the teacher at Margaret A. Neary Elementary School in Southborough, a city about 30 miles (48 kilometers) west of Boston.

District Superintendent Gregory Martineau told parents in a statement this week that he first heard of the incidents from parents in April.

He said the first incident – ​​a mock slave auction – occurred in January during a history lesson on the economy of the southern colonies.

“The teacher asked two children sitting in front of the class, who were of color, to stand, and the teacher and the class discussed physical attributes (i.e., teeth and strength),” Martineau wrote.

He said these types of teaching methods are inappropriate, trivialize the experience of victims and are disproportionately traumatic for students of color.

In the second incident, in April, the teacher read from a book and used a swear word, which the district later discovered was not in the book, officials said. Martineau told parents in his statement that inhuman words such as slurs should not be spoken by employees or students.

The chief inspector said parents had then had the opportunity to meet with the teacher and principal to find out more about the two incidents, with the school wanting to be transparent with parents and learn from its mistakes.

But the next day, the teacher “inappropriately called out the student who reported that the teacher had made racist comments, which is not acceptable,” Martineau said.

He said the district then began a formal investigation and placed the teacher on leave. School Principal Kathleen Valenti also received 10 days of paid leave this month, the superintendent said.

Valenti could not immediately be reached on Friday.

Martineau apologized to parents for what happened, adding that he recognized that “there were missteps in this process that further complicated the situation.”

He said all personnel matters would remain confidential.

In the nearby town of Southwick, investigators announced in March that they would file criminal charges against six teenagers who they said participated in “a hateful, racist online chat that included horrific language, threats and a sham slave auction.”

According to investigators, a group on Snapchat was created by a group of eighth-graders between February 8 and 9. During the chat, some participants expressed hateful and racist comments, including wanting to commit violence against people of color, racist comments, derogatory photos and videos, and a fake slave auction targeting two specific students, investigators said.