Mention Of George Floyd's Death In Chemistry Class Sparks Outrage

ARLINGTON, VA — An Arlington County secondary school teacher's decision to use a reference to George Floyd as part of a classroom exercise has sparked outrage from the Arlington community and drawn criticism from the county's top education official.

On Tuesday, a chemistry teacher in H-B Woodlawn's secondary school program gave students a question in which they were directed to name a chemical element that described the manner of death of George Floyd, a man who died in May after a Minneapolis officer kneeled on his neck, according to a report in The Washington Post.

The question read: “George Floyd couldn’t breathe because a police officer put his ____ George’s neck." The answer to the question was the chemical element "neon," the Post reported.

In a letter to Arlington Public Schools families and staff, APS Superintendent Dr. Francisco Durán said the chemistry teacher's question showed significant racial insensitivity.

"The content referenced the killing of George Floyd in an unacceptable and senseless way, which hurt and alarmed our students, staff, families, and the community," Durán said. "The reference showed extremely poor judgement and a blatant disregard for African American lives."

Durán went on to say that the question violated the school system's core values, adding that the teacher has been relieved of classroom duties while the incident is being investigated.

"I want to assure everyone that this situation will be handled in accordance with our policies, and all staff are held to the highest standards of professional behavior," he said.

Durán applauded the students who had brought the question to the attention of H-B Woodlawn's principal and staff.

"While we have made major progress to improve our policies and programs, we know we have more work to do," he said. "We are incorporating frameworks like No Place for Hate this year to reinforce that Arlington Public Schools is a safe learning community and to empower our staff and students to take a stand against bias and bullying."

The content of the question was first reported by ARLnow.com.