A pair of teachers have come under fire after ruthlessly mocking an ‘annoying af’ student on a Zoom call, without realising they were being recorded the whole time.
The interaction came between an elementary school teacher and a special education administrator in Toledo, Ohio, following a conversation with a mother concerned her six-year-old son was getting beat up in class.
Once the mother hung up, the pair went on a six-minute tirade in which they insulted and belittled the young bullying victim behind his back.
‘He is annoying AF,’ the teacher was heard saying. ‘I tried to tell the mom this is a behavior classroom. All these kids are in here for a reason.’
According to the boy’s mother, who wished to remain anonymous, the alleged bullying was getting so bad that he would return home from school and tell her he wished to commit suicide.
‘He was coming home with multiple bruises, bloody noses. He was coming home saying he was going to kill himself,’ she said.
But the two educators shrugged off the concerns and showed little regard for the youngster’s wellbeing.
A transcript of their conversation read: ‘And he’s getting hurt and the thing about wanting to kill himself that’s a learned behavior. You know my class. All day long he screams I hate my life. I hate my life. I’ll kill myself and he did learn that in here. Half of my class says that all day long.’
The teacher even called one of the students ‘an attempted murderer’, which made the administrator burst into hysterical laughter.
‘They’re like, “Why is [blank] in that class?” Because like he’s an attempted murderer. He will chase you down with his pencil.’ the teacher said.
The teacher also appeared to list four different students that beat up the concerned mother’s child.
A transcript of the exchange was later discovered by the Toledo School Board, who branded it unprofessional.
‘My six-year-old saying he wanted to kill himself and it not being reported and her just saying it so calmly that’s a regular behavior in my class. It should be reported because kids are taking their lives every day,’ the mother told WGTV.
The parent said her son wasn’t the only student talked about on the call.
Following the incident, Toledo Public Schools released a statement to WTVG addressing what happened and explaining how the school responded.
‘Toledo Public Schools is working with the administration at Reynolds Elementary to address questionable comments by two staff members following a parent meeting last Friday morning,’ Deputy Superintendent James R. Gant said in a statement.
‘The meeting was videotaped unbeknownst to those involved, and the district sent a link to the parent.
‘Toledo Public Schools holds its employees to the highest professional standards and will take additional and appropriate steps following the holiday, including possible disciplinary action.’
Also caught during the hot mic was an allegation of an administrator at Reynolds roughing kids up while restraining them. The teacher said during the meeting there appeared to be no documentation of the incidents.
‘I know enough that you’re supposed to put them in a cross down here. He will full-arm wrap their neck. The kids are screaming I can’t breathe, you’re hurting my neck,’ they said.
The mother hopes the school board will live up their words, and has removed her son from the school.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
