© 2024 University of Missouri - KBIA
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Missouri Teacher Suspended After Student Dresses as Klansman

A southern Missouri school district has suspended a teacher who oversaw a class presentation in which a ninth-grader dressed as a Ku Klux Klan member.

The Springfield News-Leader reports that Poplar Bluff district superintendent Scott Dill visited the American History class Monday to read the suspended teacher's letter of apology.

The student who dressed as a Klansman Friday was among a group assigned to study the 15th Amendment, which awarded voting rights to black men. During their presentation, they discussed organizations that engaged in voter suppression.

A photo of the student has circulated on social media.

It's unclear if the teacher directed the student to dress as a Klansman. The district says it doesn't believe the student was acting with discriminatory intent.

Dill hasn't returned an Associated Press reporter's call.

The Associated Press is one of the largest and most trusted sources of independent newsgathering, supplying a steady stream of news to its members, international subscribers and commercial customers. AP is neither privately owned nor government-funded; instead, it's a not-for-profit news cooperative owned by its American newspaper and broadcast members.