Teacher used ‘derogatory’ language to describe students in video, NC district says

A North Carolina teacher has been suspended over a video shared to social media that shows them making demeaning comments toward students, a school district announced.

The video captures the Pitt County Schools teacher using “derogatory and offensive language to describe students,” the district said in a statement shared to Facebook on Sept. 30.

The district did not mention the teacher by name or specify the school they worked for.

Pitt County Schools told WITN-TV that a teacher and wrestling coach at D.H. Conley High School in Greenville was suspended in connection with a pending investigation the morning of Sept. 30. The reason for his suspension was not mentioned.

School district public information officer Tom McClellan confirmed to McClatchy News via email on Oct. 1 that the D.H. Conley High School teacher is the same employee referenced in the district’s statement.

The teacher will be suspended until an internal investigation involving the video concludes, according to Pitt County Schools.

“As a unified district, we understand the negative impact that the language used has on our families and community,” the school district said in the statement. “Comments of this nature are not consistent with the values and standards of PCS.”

Pitt County is about a 80-mile drive southeast from Raleigh.

This story was originally published October 1, 2025 at 4:04 PM.

Julia Marnin

McClatchy DC

Julia Marnin covers courts for McClatchy News, writing about criminal and civil affairs, including cases involving policing, corrections, civil liberties, fraud, and abuses of power. As a reporter on McClatchy’s National Real-Time Team, she’s also covered the COVID-19 pandemic and a variety of other topics since joining in 2021, following a fellowship with Newsweek. Born in Biloxi, Mississippi, she was raised in South Jersey and is now based in New York State.