A Sanford, Maine mom says her 9-year-old biracial son was called the N-word by the assistant principal at school.
The incident happened after the boy was sent to the principal's office for bullying another student. While there, the assistant principal asked the boy if "I called you n*****, how would you feel?"
Jessica Goin, the boy's mom, says her son hasn't wanted to return to school since the event.
"He's going to remember this for the rest of his life that his (assistant) principal called him this at school," Gouin told WMTW.
The boy's dad called the school and told WMTW that in a meeting, the assistant principal apologized for using the word.
"She said yes I know I'm wrong I did call your son a n*****, and I wasn't thinking about the consequences at the time or what it would do to your child," the boy's father, Neil Jarett, said.
Mathew Nelson, the Sanford Superintendent, defended the actions of the assistant principal by explaining that they were trying to demonstrate the volatility of words. But later admitted that the lesson had failed.
The parents say they've lost faith in the school and don't believe the incident was taken seriously enough.
"They're just going to brush off and keep it that way, and maybe a couple of years down the line it's going to be the same thing. It may not be my kid but someone else's kid," Jarett said.