School secretary sent coach racial slur about MLK day, reports say. She resigned
.png "An office secretary is no longer employed after she used a racial slur in texts with another school employee, Louisiana officials say.")
A school secretary accused of sending racist text messages is no longer employed.
The text thread between an office secretary at Ouachita Parish Junior High School and a coach at the school from Friday, Jan. 13, was circulated on social media, The News Star reported. In the thread, the secretary uses a racial slur while texting the coach about Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
“[Racial slur] day lol mark Luther king,” the text read, according to a video posted to Facebook.
“Huh? Say what? Where that come from,” the coach responded.
The secretary replied, reminding the coach to tell his players there was no school on Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. day, before sending another text apologizing for her first message.
“I’m very sorry coach,” the text reads. “Please forgive me.”
Once school officials learned of the messages, the employee immediately resigned, the school district said in a Jan. 18 news release.
“Ouachita Parish School System does not condone any form of racism in our schools or community,” the district said.
Darren Wheeler, the school’s principal, sent a message to parents on Monday, Jan. 16, according to WJTV.
“Unfortunately, on Friday evening, a text message which contained a racial slur from an employee was brought to our attention,” Wheeler said. “That employee is no longer employed by the Ouachita Parish School System. We do not condone any form of racism in our schools and community.”
Facebook users expressed their frustration with the situation.
“Awful and pathetic,” one person commented on the video.
“Unbelievable,” another said.
Other commenters were angered that the employee resigned and was not fired.
“Ridiculous! Taxpayers continue to pay her for her blatant and outright disrespect,” one person commented on Facebook. “No way should she have been allowed to resign!”
“She should have never been allowed to be given the option to resign and collect her pension on the taxpayers dime for her racist actions. She should’ve been fired on the spot! Period,” another user wrote.
The district said it had no control over the employee’s decision to retire.
“Ouachita Parish School Board cannot stop an employee from resigning,” it said. “The issue of resigning versus firing where a pension is concerned is mute; the funds contributed to a pension plan by an employee are not property of the school system.”
Ouachita Parish is about 200 miles northwest of Baton Rouge.
This story was originally published January 18, 2023 at 1:58 PM with the headline "School secretary sent coach racial slur about MLK day, reports say. She resigned."
