UPDATE: This article has been updated to add a statement regarding the substitute teacher’s status with the school district.
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A substitute teacher for a south Las Vegas junior high school was fired after administrators launched an investigation into a racial incident, according to the Clark County School District.
Parents and guardians received a letter Tuesday from Silvestri Junior High School principal Yvette Tippetts notifying them of the incident.
Students and parents tell NewsNation affiliate KLAS it involved a classroom incident where the substitute teacher wrote a racial slur used to reference Black people on the whiteboard.
“There’s really no excuse for this. There should not be any type of lesson around the n-word, so it’s really appalling and hurtful,” Kamilah Bywaters, the education chair for the National Action Network, said.
KLAS also received videos capturing the teacher writing the racial slur as students in the classroom are yelling that’s “crazy” and “no.”
Bywaters said there is a lack of anti-racism training for staff in the Clark County School District, and firing the teacher doesn’t solve the problem.
“It’s not enough. We’re continuing to see a culture of racial insensitivity. We’re continuing to see this culture of violence towards black students in our schools,” Bywaters said.
According to the letter obtained by KLAS, Silvestri Junior High School principal Yvette Tippetts thanked students for notifying staff.
“I would like to inform you that the school administration became aware of an incident on our campus that involved communication that contained racial implications,” said Tippetts in the letter obtained by KLAS. “We will not tolerate behaviors that contradict an inclusive community and impact the needs of our students.”
In a statement from the Clark County School District, officials said the individual pictured was a substitute teacher and has since been terminated, adding that he is “no longer employable by CCSD.”