APEX — Wake County school administrators assigned a new eighth-grade science teacher Monday to West Lake Middle School while they continue investigating an educator who was suspended over Facebook comments about her students, Christianity and the South.

Melissa Hussain, a teacher at the school in southern Wake County, has been suspended with pay since Feb. 12.

Greg Thomas, a Wake schools spokesman, said the investigation continues.

Hussain wrote on the social-networking site that it was a "hate crime" that students anonymously left a Bible on her desk, and she told how she "was able to shame the kids" over the incident.

Her Facebook page included comments from friends about "ignorant southern rednecks," and one commenter suggested that Hussain retaliate by bringing a Dale Earnhardt Jr. poster to class with a swastika drawn on the NASCAR driver's forehead.