OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — Osceola County Schools has pulled a teacher from the classroom, after she was accused of making questionable comments about race during class.

A social studies teacher at Poinciana High School is being investigated, after a student caught the alleged remarks on camera. According to a student who shared this video, the class was having a discussion about the Black Lives Matter movement and police brutality.

In the video the teacher is heard saying, “… I was 16-years-old, and I was attacked on a MARTA train by a gang — and yes gang, wearing bandanas, gang signs, language — of Blacks in metro Atlanta. I have as much right as anybody else to dislike Blacks for what happened to me...You don't get to sit there and preach to me what I do and don't know.” 

Tamika Lyles, also a teacher at Poinciana High and the President of the Osceola County Democratic Black Caucus, said the remarks are concerning.

“This is a learning environment for our students, and we have to make sure we are able to maintain that learning environment for them and make sure it is one they can truly learn in and not one that we are inserting so much of our opinion in it till we tarnish the learning aspect,” Lyles said.  

The Osceola County School District has opened up an investigation on the matter. The teacher has been reassigned out of the school so she has no contact with students until the investigation is complete. 

Spectrum News 13 reached out to the teacher via email but has not received a response.