KANSAS CITY, Mo. — As many as 80 Park Hill High School students protested inside the school’s gymnasium Thursday morning reacting to an incident earlier this week involving racist language.
The incident involved a student using allegedly racist and inappropriate language and a teacher then repeating the language while questioning the student.
The incident prompted Principal Brad Kincheloe to send a letter home to parents outlining the incident.
In the letter, Kincheloe told parents the teacher was on leave pending a district investigation. The principal said the school was following policy in handling any student discipline.
"We reached out to the students who saw this, as well as their families, to offer support and to make sure we have the whole story," Kincheloe said in the letter this week. "We are providing counseling to support any students or staff who need help processing their feelings about this incident. If your child needs support, please contact our counseling office."
The letter parents received from Kincheloe about the incident said that "while most of our students were in class, we had several dozen students peacefully protesting in our gym who were upset about the incident I shared with you earlier this week."
Kincheloe said that during morning announcements Friday, he will share with students that the process of investigating an alleged incident of policy violations can take some time.
"This means that if an employee violates our policies, we must thoroughly investigate and provide opportunities for the employee to be heard," the letter said. "Sometimes, this can even take several weeks."
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