Administrators at J.K. Mullen High School cited “new information” as the cause of a teacher’s termination Thursday, two days after his racially insensitive comments were publicly reported.
In written statement, Mullen president Bob Regan called English teacher Tim Thornton “a good and decent man” but acknowledged the damage his conduct did to the school community.
Thornton’s employment was terminated effective immediately, the statement said. Thornton was put on paid administrative leave for two weeks after school administrators learned he used the “n-word” in class Aug. 30, offending a black student. Thornton said he used the word after it was left blank in a story his class was reading.
Thornton spoke to 9News on Wednesday, before his termination. He said he was upset by the situation, mostly because he hurt one of his students, who complained to administrators. “No teacher should hurt someone,” he said. “That shouldn’t happen in a classroom.”
Using e-mails and social media, some students are organizing a protest against Thornton’s firing before school today. 9News
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