COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Several students face discipline for editing a screenshot of a Columbia middle school website to include a racist slur against black people.
Columbia Public Schools spokeswoman Michelle Baumstark said Monday the students posted the altered screenshot online so the image would pop up during Google searches for Gentry Middle School's official website.
Baumstark said Google took the image down after the district reported it.
Baumstark said the incident was mortifying and doesn't reflect the district's values. She said the image violated school policies against discrimination and misuse of technology.
Baumstark said student privacy laws prevent her from disclosing individual student discipline.
About 10% of the roughly 950 students who attended Gentry Middle School last school year were black. Data from that year show the school was about 75% white.
Connect with the Southeast Missourian Newsroom:
For corrections to this story or other insights for the editor, click here. To submit a letter to the editor, click here. To learn about the Southeast Missourian’s AI Policy, click here.