Speaking out on the incident, the mother of the student told local station Fox 4 on Tuesday that the instructor in question had told her daughter, "don't give me your ugly black girl face," twice in front of the entire class. It's unclear why the remark was made.
The incident took place on April 23.
"She was humiliated by a staff member, someone that's supposed to protect your kid when we as parents are not there," the mom, who was only identified as Jamelia, told the station. "There's been ongoing problems with the staff being bullies at the school."
Offering more insight on the "ongoing problems," the mother told the outlet that when she worked as a coordinator for the school district's before-and-after school programs, students were allowed to wear white hooded costumes resembling those worn by KKK members for a Halloween party.
According to the Kansas City Star, the substitute teacher had called the school principal to the classroom to remove a student after making the racially insensitive comments. Once the principal arrived and was informed of the comments that had been made, it was the substitute teacher who was asked to leave after a report was filed.
The official later informed the student's mother about the incident.
"I got a call from the principal saying that he needed to tell me that there was a teacher that was removed from the school for using racial, derogatory remarks with my daughter," Jamelia recalled.
A statement from the Leavenworth School District for the Kansas City Star indicated that officials informed the teacher's employer "that the substitute would not be welcome back in the district for future assignments."
The district later indicated that it would not tolerate discriminatory behavior. The district uses Kansas City contractor Morgan Hunter to select substitutes for open teaching slots.
Jamelia stressed to Fox 4 that in order to prevent a similar incident from happening, "we need to take a look at the leadership there and all of the staff and substitutes need to be retrained and learn how to talk to children and remain professional."
The teacher has not been identified.
