A Loudoun County, Virginia, teacher has come under fire after having students handle a raw piece of cotton during a history lesson that touched on the invention of the cotton gin and slavery.
The history lesson took place on Dec. 5 at Riverside High School in Leesburg.
As part of a discussion on cotton, the teacher passed a sample of raw cotton among the students, some of whom became upset.
In a letter sent to parents Friday, Principal Doug Anderson said “lessons of this nature may cause students to feel any number of emotions,” adding “some students in the class may have used the situation as a way to act in an insensitive manner.”
“This is not what we are trying to accomplish in our classrooms and we will endeavor to do better,” Andersen wrote in the letter. “Every individual is valued in Loudoun County Public Schools.”
Andersen sent another message out on Thursday addressing the incident, but he “accidentally only sent it to students,” he said in his follow-up letter.
In response to the incident, Loudoun County Public Schools said the division’s Department of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility would work hand-in-hand with the Division of Teaching and Learning to “develop further guidance” to outline situations in which lessons could be linked to trauma.
LCPS further acknowledged that policy requires parents be made aware of any lessons linked to sensitive topics, a step which was not taken prior. Officials said they will work to clarify situations in which parents must be notified of planned topics in the classroom.
School division leaders said they intend to work with any students who were impacted by the history lesson and provide support.
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