Video shows teacher mock student with special needs in same room as her, NC school says
A North Carolina teacher is seen mocking and pointing at a student with special needs in a short Instagram video — a lanyard bearing her school’s name in full view.
Now she’s resigning.
Mooresville Graded School District Spokesperson Tanae Sump-McLean confirmed the teacher — who has not been publicly named — was suspended pending an investigation and tendered her resignation voluntarily on Friday.
“We hold our teachers to the highest professional standards when it comes to their actions and the treatment of our students,” she said in an email to McClatchy news group. “We do not and would never condone actions like what has occurred with the posting of this video.”
McLean said the district cannot otherwise comment on “specific employee matters.”
Mooresville is roughly 30 miles north of Charlotte.
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TV station Fox46 in Charlotte reported viewers sent the video to them on Facebook. In it, a teacher can be seen with a student behind her in an otherwise empty classroom.
The student is blurred out, but the teacher is heard complaining after they were held back from a field trip, according to Fox46.
“This girl has not made a peep since we got into the classroom from the bus,” she says in the video. “We both get to sit here and stare at each other for the next three hours while the class is gone. Happy freaking Wednesday.”
Superintendent Stephen A. Mauney reminded staff and teachers in an email Friday of the district’s social media and technology policies.
“While we understand that being in public education comes with daily challenges, our motto is Every child. Every day. Every child includes the child that may be having a difficult day, and every day includes the days that we may be having difficulties,” he said in the email.
“Please know that we will support you during those difficult days, but I do hold each of you, and myself, to the highest professional standards when it comes to our actions and the treatment of our students.”
This story was originally published August 30, 2019 at 6:28 PM.
