AMARILLO, TX (KFDA) - Five Amarillo ISD teachers have been placed on administrative leave after the district launched an investigation into a controversial social media post.
The ladies were having dinner at Joe Taco when a man started recording their conversation.
When he posted it on Facebook, it created a social media storm for the district as well as the teachers involved.
Thousands of Facebook users watched the video, and the person who posted it alleges the teachers were mocking students with disabilities as well as their parents.
"It makes me angry, I've cried about it," said Amanda Beck. Her son has ADHD and attends Bivins Elementary.
She said she was shocked to see his teachers in that video.
"I don't know if it was specifically talking about my son, or me personally, but I took it personally, I did," said Beck. "I just feel that if a child does have these issues, it's the teachers job to say 'hey do you need help.' They're the ones that see our kids the majority of the day."
The man who posted the video met with AISD officials about the incident, however he recently deleted the post.
The administration issued this statement:
“Upon learning of the social media postings last week, AISD began an internal investigation into the allegations. Our district has clear expectations of professionalism from our staff. We hold our employees to the highest standards for confidentially of student information and appreciate our parents who partner with us in the education of their students. Because this matter concerns students and district personnel, we cannot release further information.”
Two unidentified teachers hired Jeremi Young as their attorney.
He said he's confident the district will conduct the investigation thoroughly.
"I'm confident the district is going to do the right thing, and find that these are un-found allegations," said Young. "But even if they do that, the bell cannot be un-rung. So much harm has been done. The lives of these ladies have been tremendously impacted by the salacious post that he made on Facebook, by these lies that he sent out to literally thousands and thousands of people. It angers me frankly that it was so irresponsible."
Young said the women were talking about a variety of topics, including work, but they did not make the alleged comments. He added that the environment they were in was too noisy to hear what the women were actually saying.
"Its unethical, it's defamatory, he's knowingly telling lies about other people that he knows will harm their reputation, that's the very definition of defamation," said Young. "As soon as we find out who he is, we're going to come after him for that."
How long the investigation will last is unknown at this time.
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