A Lafayette High School teacher is being accused of calling a Palestinian student a terrorist. The Georgia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations is demanding a formal apology, but the school system is saying that’s been done. The council said the teacher has called the student a terrorist on multiple occasions dating back to October. The comments weren’t made directly to the student but to a person they were dating at the time. Keon Grant, the Staff Attorney for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, says the first incident took place in the teacher’s classroom. The teacher turned on a news channel that was discussing Palestinians. The student’s girlfriend at the time asked the teacher if they could turn it off because she felt uncomfortable because her boyfriend was the only Palastinian at the school. She said the teacher responded by saying, “Oh he’s a terrorist.” Grant said another incident arose five days later, when the teacher approached the girlfriend outside of class. The students mother has filed complaints with the Walker County School District and Title 6. The mother claims the teacher admitted to it and was asked to apologize by his superiors. She says instead of complying with what they asked for, the teacher sent a three-sentence email that said his statement was taken out of context. Local 3 in Chattanooga reached out to the Walker County School District and received a statement from Superintendent Damon Raines: “The facts presented by you are incorrect. This matter was promptly and thoroughly investigated according to the current board policy IKBB. An apology letter was provided and personnel action was taken. If this matter has risen to a complaint with OCR, the system has no additional comment.”
The State Board of Regents gave approval yesterday for the University of Georgia to establish a medical school at it’s Athens campus. This would be the second medical school in the state. The State House has approved 50-million dollars for the design and construction of the UGA School of Medicine. The Senate still has to vote on the measure.
Ridgeland High School’s robotics team is headed to the World Championships. The team finished 4th at the Georgia state championships last weekend. The World Championships take place in Dallas Texas in April.
The Region 6-AAA Basketball Tournament take a pause today. Action resumes tomorrow. Both LaFayette’s boys and girls teams were eliminated yesterday. In the girls bracket, Ringgold topped LaFayette 53-44. In boys action, Ridgeland tied LaFayette at 47 to force overtime. The Ramblers managed only one basket in OT. Ridgeland won. 58-49.
Other games yesterday in the boys bracket. LFO beat Ringgold 58-44. The boys semifinals tomorrow features top seed Adiarsville against LFO. Ridgeland faces the number 2 seed in Coahulla Creek. The girls semi’s sees Ringgold taking on top seeded LFO. Adairsville faces Coahulla Creek.
