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2 students disciplined, 1 employee faces termination at Kokomo High School

KOKOMO, Ind. (WISH) – Two students have been disciplined and one employee is facing termination after an incident at Kokomo High School.

Cellphone video from inside the school shows a student and staff member writing what appears to be a racial slur during a game of hangman.

The video was recorded on Snapchat and then posted to social media. The student who recorded it said she was disciplined for filming in class.

Kokomo School District leaders reviewed the video and spoke with those involved.

In a statement to 24-Hour News 8 the district said, “On Tuesday, Nov. 28th, a student recreated an animated cartoon scene that was offensive and in poor taste. The student shared this inappropriate image with a paraprofessional. No teachers were involved in this situation.”

District leaders say the student accused of writing the word has been disciplined.

The paraprofessional involved has been notified of his pending termination by Kokomo Schools.

The student who filmed the incident claims she was suspended for recording the video. The district told 24-Hour News 8 that school policy prohibits video and audio recording in the classroom without prior consent of those being filmed.

The statement from the district said:

“The specific discipline of this second student cannot be discussed. In all cases, the disciplinary consequences are based on the number of times a policy has been violated and also may include the number of times the student has violated other school policies, such as skipping classes or being truant from school, for example.”

Kokomo High School Principal Angela Blessing sent an email to students on Thursday. The email said:

“Discrimination in any form is unconscionable and will not be tolerated at Kokomo High School. I am proud of our students and staff who work to create an inclusive and welcoming school environment at KHS. We will continue our work to reinforce our expectations about mutual respect among our diverse student body.”