A Texas junior high school teacher has been placed on administrative leave after she was caught on video calling her students “complete and utter morons.”
An unnamed first-year teacher at Harry Wright Junior High School in the Lamar Consolidated Independent School District in Richmond recently unleashed a tirade where she said she wouldn’t save kids if they fell in a river — and even said she hoped to be fired.
“If I have to keep dealing with kids that are complete and utter morons, I’m done. I’m literally done,” she says in the video, obtained by KHOU.
“I want to be fired at this point. I literally am going to hurt myself if I have to keep coming here.
“I have never in my life dealt with kids that are so awful that, if they fell into a river, I would let them float away.”
The video circulated on social media, spurring outrage from local parents.
“It’s ridiculous,” parent Lucy Martinez told KHOU. “Really if she doesn’t like what she does, why be a teacher?”
Texas American Federation of Teachers president Zeph Capo, told the outlet that while teachers cannot melt down like that in front of children, people need to be sympathetic to teachers’ stresses and struggles they have faced through the pandemic.
“We should never be at a place where we let our personal feelings get to that point,” Capo said. “Particularly in front of kids.”
“Right now, it’s a time for grace,” he added. “You know, it does sound like she needs to exit out and take a break.”
The school district placed the teacher on leave on Jan. 13, the day after school officials were made aware of her comments.
“[On Jan. 12], we were made aware of a video circulating on social media where a Wright Junior High School teacher is making disturbing comments,” the district said in a statement.
“Of course, we take this very seriously and are actively investigating this situation … Parents trust us with their students every day and, unfortunately, the actions of a single person have the potential to breach that trust.”
