This story was written by Lia Salvatierra, our new Education Reporter. Find more of Lia’s reporting here. Do you have an NKY education story? Email lsalvatierra@linknky.com.
A Boone County High School teacher who distributed a word search to students that contained the N-word is back in the classroom after an administrative leave, according to the Northern Kentucky branch of the NAACP.
The branch held a news conference after meeting with district leaders Thursday.
After the teacher self-reported the situation, the district’s investigation into the issue found the teacher did not knowingly distribute the material, according to President of Northern Kentucky’s NAACP Branch Jerome Bowles.
Bowles told LINK nky the situation is unlike any his organization has seen during his tenure, dating back to at least 2017. He said Boone County Schools is on the right path to addressing the situation and its fallout.
Bowles said his organization called a meeting with the district immediately after learning a teacher had distributed the offensive material and was consequently placed on administrative leave.
Bowles relayed more details of the situation to media Thursday, previously unreported by the district. He said the meeting clarified the district’s investigative process and how it planned to prioritize student safety and mental health at school moving forward.
“We want to make sure the school culture that is conducive to the success of all the students,” Bowles said.
“The reports we’re getting right now, the students right now are back with her, and there’s no other issues at this point,” Bowles said of the teacher.
Thursday’s meeting included Boone County High School Principal Stacey Black, the district’s deputy superintendent and assistant superintendent, but did not include Superintendent Jeff Hauswald. Bowles said Hauswald plans to meet with the organization later in the semester at its request.
A district spokeswoman declined to confirm details of the meeting and said the district handles personnel matters privately.
How did this happen?
The teacher who distributed the word search puzzle did so unknowingly and self-reported the situation to the district, according to Bowles.
Reporting by LINK nky media partner WCPO found the word search on a website called Word Search Labs. People can create and share word searches on the site for free.
On the Google preview for the puzzle, the first word is listed as “ADVISOR” instead of the slur. After the outlet contacted the site developer, he pulled the puzzle off the internet.
Bowles said the teacher reviewed the material online, which did not contain the word, and then printed copies for students that did contain the word, and did not review those copies.
The teacher left the classroom with a substitute to attend another meeting and left a stack of the word search puzzles for students to pick up and complete if they finished their other work, according to NKY NAACP Branch First Vice President Victoria “Vicky” Washington. The worksheet was not distributed to the entire class, Washington said.
Students who ended up grabbing the word search puzzle then reported the word on the worksheet to their regular teacher once she returned, Bowles said.
Moving forward
Bowles said although the responsibility ultimately fell on the teacher to review materials distributed to students, it wasn’t malicious.
He said the district called it “an unintentional situation that was done by this teacher. No way this educator has these thoughts and behaviors that they direct consistently towards students,” Bowles said.
Bowles said district leadership seemed open to adopting new protocol to prevent similar situations during Thursday’s meeting.
Next meeting to focus on student well-being
There are plans for Superintendent Dr. Jeff Hauswald to meet with the NAACP of Northern Kentucky at a later date. Bowles said the organization wants that conversation to focus on the safety and mental health of the students affected, as well as how the district can improve its response and communication moving forward.
For the NAACP of Northern Kentucky, the discussion is not just about explaining how the word search reached students. It is also about making sure students feel supported and that the district has steps in place to prevent similar incidents.
WCPO’s Stephen Knobel contributed to some of the reporting in this article.
