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A group of 84 people gathered at Callahan Missionary Baptist Church east of Woodland on Saturday to discuss their concerns and what they would like to see the school board do regarding the substitute teacher.
The fifth-grade substitute was suspended for two days after the incident on Feb. 10 and continues to drive a school bus for the district.
Houston Superintendent Steve Coker could not be reached on Saturday for comment.
Demand for action
“We want the school board to understand how serious we think this incident is,” said Harold Jackson, first vice president of the Calhoun County branch of the NAACP and spokesman at Saturday’s meeting. “We need some movement from the Houston school system.”
Tamika Ivy, whose 10-year-old son was in the classroom when the expletive was used, said the teacher should not be working for the district in any capacity and should apologize for her actions.
“My son said a bunch of kids were at the pencil sharpener and she used the word to tell them to sit down,” said Ivy. “He said everything got real quiet, but she never apologized or said she was sorry. The word she used is very negative and hurtful and no child should ever be called that.”
Letter to district
Jackson said parents and the local NAACP have sent a certified letter to the school district. Both the state and national organization also are aware of the situation.
“We are concerned that neither the district nor the local community has responded strongly about this,” said Shenia Jones of Houston, who spoke at the meeting. “This is not something that we want happening in Houston and it is not something that we will allow to happen in our schools.”
There are about 1,950 students enrolled in the Houston School District. The racial makeup of the district is about 41 percent black, 52 percent white and 6 percent Hispanic.
There are no circumstances under which that is an excusable action.
The real concern here for me is not just the use of the word as bad as that is, but the attitude that the use of that word reflects.
This person has no business teaching children. If she is a licensed teacher, she shouldn't be.
Plus she's a substitue. Why are they even keeping her around. She's the teaching equivilent of a temp. A temp worker screws up, you don't call them back. It's that simple.