BOONE COUNTY, Ky. — A Boone County High School teacher was placed on leave Thursday after a puzzle including a racial slur was distributed to students, the Boone County School District announced.
The district said that "an inappropriate word search puzzle that included a deeply offensive racial slur was distributed to students by a teacher in a classroom."
"We wish to be unequivocally clear: There is NO place in our schools for language or actions that demean, intimidate or marginalize others based on race, identity, background or differences," the district said in a statement.
As the district investigates the circumstances surrounding the distribution of the puzzle, the teacher involved has been placed on leave. The district said the school and district administrators will seek disciplinary action to the fullest extent.
"We will continue to reinforce our expectations for respect, responsibility and inclusion throughout our school community," Principal Stacey Black said. "We appreciate the students who have brought this matter forward as part of our efforts to maintain a school environment where every individual is treated with dignity and respect."
A Boone County High School parent who did not want to be identified sent us a picture his son took showing a word search puzzle with the N-word listed as the first word to look for and the N-word spelled out inside the puzzle's body.
WATCH: We investigate the puzzle's origin and talk with students
Two students, senior Stephanie Lopez and junior Aiyana Pendleton, confirmed the puzzle in the picture was the one distributed in class, but they spoke in defense of the now-on-leave teacher.
"When we got shown the word puzzle, we were confused because we were like, they would never print something like that on purpose," Lopez said.
We searched online for the puzzle and found the exact word search on a website called Word Search Labs. People can create and share word searches on the site for free.
On the Google preview for the puzzle, the first word is listed as "ADVISOR" instead of the slur.
We emailed site developer Matt Johnson, who pulled the puzzle off the internet.
"I suspect a student guessed the password for the puzzle (or it didn't have one), and vandalized the content for maximum shock value," he said.
Lopez and Pendleton both argued the handout must have been distributed as a mistake.
"I know they would never intend that in that way," Pendleton said.
Black said the school will be increasing its efforts to ensure a similar incident doesn't happen again. She also said that counselors would be joining her to meet students impacted.
Superintendent Dr. Jeff Hauswald also issued a statement regarding the incident.
"I am deeply disappointed that one of our teachers failed to meet the curricular requirements and inclusive expectations we set for EVERY employee at all of our schools," Hauswald said.
