A substitute teacher was removed from the classroom at an upstate New York middle school after making a brazen, racist statement to a young Black student.
The remark was caught on a now-viral video taken on Feb. 10 at Richard O’Rourke Middle School in Burnt Hills, New York, a suburban community roughly 30 miles north of Albany.
The clip shows a young, white student recording herself in what appears to be a vlog and then, in the background, her substitute teacher suddenly and loudly says, “Keep your cotton-picking hands to yourself.”
According to WNYT, the sub directed the comment at a Black eighth-grader. It’s unclear what prompted her to make the derogatory remark.
The Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Central School District said it was made aware of the video and the teacher’s remarks the day after the incident. District officials immediately launched an investigation after the vlog was discovered and removed the substitute teacher from the district list.
Richard O’Rourke’s principal also met with every student present in the class during the incident, as well as their parents.
The district did not identify the teacher, but it released a statement to WGRB about the incident:
Late Wednesday afternoon, district leaders were made aware of an incident involving a substitute teacher in an eighth-grade classroom. It was reported that the substitute teacher made a racially insensitive comment to a student, which could be heard in the background of a Chromebook video journal being recorded for a class assignment.
Upon learning of the situation, district staff immediately launched an investigation. Based on our findings, the substitute teacher was immediately removed from the district’s substitute teacher roster.
On Thursday morning, the building principal met directly with the students in the class. During this meeting, she addressed the video and reaffirmed the district’s position that regardless of how it is brought to the school’s attention, such language is never acceptable. The principal also contacted the parents of all of the students in the class to make them aware of the incident.
Upholding a culture of safety and mutual respect is a primary responsibility for the district. We do not accept or overlook racist comments or actions in any form. We remain dedicated to ensuring our schools are spaces where students, staff, and visitors are treated with dignity.
