PARKER, Colo. — A teacher was fired from her job at a Parker school after she showed students news coverage of school shootings after a practice lockdown drill because she was upset with students who were talking during the drill.
Parker Core Knowledge school leaders said a Spanish teacher showed a second-grade class two news clips related to school shootings that happened in Uvalde, Texas and The Covenant School in Nashville.
"Following a routine lockdown drill, one of our teachers showed videos from television news station stories that aired following school tragedies that occurred in other states," the school said in a statement to 9NEWS. "This is not in alignment with our protocol and completely unacceptable."
Leadership at Parker Core Knowledge, a K-8 charter school in the Douglas County School District, learned of the incident about an hour after the district-mandated drill Monday. The school said it immediately placed the teacher on administrative leave.
The school fired the teacher Tuesday, about 24 hours after the incident occurred. The school sent letters home to parents to keep them informed after the incident, school leaders said.
"We practice routine lockdown drills at our school to ensure our students and staff are prepared in the event of an emergency. After learning of this incident, we took immediate steps to notify impacted families of students in that classroom and reassure them that this is not our standard procedure and will not happen again. Mental health resources are available to students who may need extra support. The teacher was terminated and is no longer an employee at Parker Core Knowledge," the school said in a statement.
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Latest from 9NEWS
9NEWS+
9NEWS+ has multiple live daily shows including 9NEWS Mornings, Next with Kyle Clark and 9NEWS+ Daily, an original streaming program. 9NEWS+ is where you can watch live breaking news, weather updates, and press conferences. You can also replay recent newscasts and find videos on demand of our top stories, local politics, investigations and Colorado specific features.
To download 9NEWS+ on Roku search for KUSA.
To download 9NEWS+ on Fire TV search for 9NEWS.
