A Boone County High School teacher has been placed on leave after handing out a word search containing a racial slur in a Florence, Kentucky classroom this week. District officials confirmed the puzzle was distributed on Thursday, September 24, and called the material hurtful and disrespectful as they moved to discipline the employee involved.
According to WLWT, Boone County Schools said it would seek disciplinary action to the maximum extent allowed once its review is complete. The district has not said where the puzzle came from or explained how the slur ended up on it, and it has not publicly described the teacher's account of what happened.
Superintendent Dr. Jeff Hauswald said the incident reflected a breakdown in expectations the district holds for its staff. “One of our teachers failed to meet the curricular requirements and inclusive expectations we set for EVERY employee,” he said, a statement carried by WCPO.
Principal Apologizes, Promises Counseling for Affected Students
Boone County High School Principal Stacey Black apologized to the entire school community and said counselors were meeting with students impacted by the puzzle's distribution. “Counselors are joining me in a meeting with all students impacted,” she said, per the WLWT account. Black added that the school would work to prevent a repeat of the incident, saying, “We will continue to reinforce our expectations for respect, responsibility and inclusion,” according to the same WCPO report.
Parents and students showed WLWT a photo they said depicted the word search handed out in class, and the outlet reported that it independently found the same puzzle circulating online. But accounts diverge on how firmly that photo has been verified. WLWT reported that the district has not confirmed whether the puzzle shown in those photos is the exact one students received, while WCPO reported that senior Stephanie Lopez and junior Aiyana Pendleton confirmed the puzzle in the picture was the one distributed in class.
Students Who Weren't in the Room Speak Up
Lopez and Pendleton were not in the classroom when the puzzle was handed out, but both said they know the teacher and believe it was distributed by mistake. Lopez described the teacher as kind and sweet, someone she does not believe would intentionally hurt or discriminate against another person, and said seeing the slur on the puzzle was shocking. Pendleton said she believes the school should take action but also wants the teacher's side of the story to be heard before final judgment.
Puzzle Traced to a Word-Search Website
The word search itself contains the slur more than once, and the same puzzle turned up on Word Search Labs, a website that lets users build and share their own word searches for free, according to WCPO's reporting. The site's developer, Matt Johnson, told WHIO that he removed the puzzle once he learned of it and suspects a student altered the content after cracking or bypassing a password. “I suspect a student guessed the password for the puzzle (or it didn't have one), and vandalized the content for maximum shock value,” Johnson said.
For now, Boone County Schools has offered no timeline for when its disciplinary review will conclude, and key questions remain unresolved, including exactly how the slur made its way onto the page the teacher distributed. District leaders have said only that they intend to pursue the strongest disciplinary response available while counselors continue working with students at the school.
