Tenn. Teacher Suspended for Allegedly Urging Class to Mock Student Like Pigs

A Tennessee kindergarten teacher was suspended after she allegedly urged her students to encircle a classmate and make pig noises because of his apparent messiness.

The teacher involved in the incident, Debbie Hayes, received a one-day suspension and a letter of reprimand from the Roane County School District on March 16. Hayes has taught kindergarten in the county for 38 years, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports.

In the letter, students told administrators that Hayes instructed them to encircle the child and "call him a pig and make pig noises.”

An instructor passing the classroom noticed the boy crying in the center of the scene and alerted the school’s principal.

In a meeting with the principal, Hayes admitted the taunting was inappropriate and said the entire class might not have been involved in the incident.

The boy’s mother declined an offer to transfer the child to another classroom.

Click here to read more on this alleged taunting incident from the Knoxville News Sentinel.