A Georgia school art teacher was suspended after students claimed in a video that the former teacher of the year used the n-word in her classroom.
Alexandrea Boyington, an educator at Alcovy High School in the Atlanta exurb of Newton County, has been barred from her classroom after a clip — seemingly first posted by blog site ATL Uncensored — found her asking students when it is permissible to say the n-word.
Boyington is seen wearing a salmon-colored blouse and black bottoms as she sits on a desk casually asking students, “Say I date a Black guy? Then I can say n-gga?” The students immediately shout out, “No.” Boyington fires back, “’Cause I got a n-gga,” before laughter and shock overwhelm the room.
It’s unclear when the incident took place. However, officials told Fox 5 Atlanta that they were made aware of the incident after the clip was shared on social media.
In a statement to the outlet, a spokesperson for Newton County Schools wrote, “Over the weekend, Newton County School System administrators received notification of a video circulating online that allegedly involved an Alcovy High School teacher making inappropriate statements in class.”
“The teacher, Ms. Alexandrea Boyington, is currently on administrative leave pending the outcome of our investigation,” they concluded. Boyington was named teacher of the year two years ago.
“It wasn’t no reason for you to say that,” Malik Montgomery, a senior at Alcovy, told reporters. “I’m kinda pretty upset about it, and I hope some justice gets done. I think the Board of Education should do more, you know. Look more into it—investigate into and not just be suspended. You know, she should just lose her job.”
Other people on social media shared Montgomery’s sentiments, including a YouTube user who wrote, “No excuses. Period! None! She has to go.” Another called for Boyington to lose her career entirely, writing, “She needs to loose [sic] her state license to teach any students, public or private.”
A third person commented, “This school seems really low level if someone like that can become teacher of the year.” Boyington has yet to make a public statement regarding the video.
