Texas teacher on administrative leave after telling students to call pedophiles 'minor attracted persons'

A teacher in El Paso, Texas, is on administrative leave and facing dismissal after she told students to call pedophiles "minor attracted persons" in an incident that was captured on video and shared on social media.

The teacher can be heard telling students to stop calling each other that in the video. People like that are not allowed to be labeled that way.

The teacher said in the video that they wouldn't call them that. Minor attracted persons will be called MAPs. People shouldn't be judged just because they want to have sex with a young child.

The teacher was named by the El Paso Teachers Association.

She said she was not allowed to comment at the moment.

Requests for comment from the high school were not returned.

It's not clear what happened prior to the 18-second video. The El Paso Independent School District wouldn't say what led to the discussion.

Liza Rodriguez said that the school district launched an investigation after learning of the incident.

"After a thorough investigation was conducted, on September 6, 2022, during a Special Board Meeting, the Board of Trustees approved a decision to notify a Franklin High School teacher of proposed dismissal," she stated. The safety of our students is a top priority.

The school district said the incident is apersonnel matter and wouldn't reveal the findings of its investigation.

The next step is an appeals process governed by the Texas Education Code after the Board of trustees voted unanimously to start the procedure to fire the teacher. Rodriguez said that the teacher is on administrative leave pending the outcome of the case.

The classroom exchange was taken out of context, according to the vice president of the board.

Call said he had changed his mind after being briefed on the school district's findings.

When he saw the video, he was horrified. I felt bad for her when she tried to be sarcastic. I have no doubt that firing this teacher is the right thing to do because of the district's investigation. A reasonable person would vote to fire her.

Call wouldn't say what led to him changing his mind.

The president of the El Paso Teachers Association was told not to speak about the incident at this time.

She told NBC News that she would be more than happy to comment once the teacher had the chance to appeal. I am certain that I will have a lot to say by that time.

The article was first published on NBC News.