He needs a new job after reading kids' book I Need A New Butt in class
The assistant principal of a US school has been fired for reading a children’s book called I Need a New Butt! to a class of 7-to-8-year-olds.
Mr Toby Price said he was asked to read a book to the children after the principal did not turn up for a Zoom class at the Gary Road Elementary School in the town of Byram in Mississippi.
“I wasn’t planning on reading, but I went ahead and grabbed one of my books that I had nearby,” US media reports quoted him as saying. “One of my favorites… It’s hilarious.”
But soon after the class ended, Mr Price was summoned to the principal’s office and told that parents might complain about the book. He was placed on administrative leave.
He said that to his knowledge, no parents had complained.
But the local education authorities felt the book was inappropriate because it had words like “butt” and “fart”.
Mr Price then got a termination letter that said he showed “a lack of professionalism and impaired judgment” in picking the book,
He felt it was harsh, especially as someone who had been an educator for 20 years, and had no disciplinary action taken against him till then.
He said he had even read the “fun, silly book” at another school where he had worked before and “never had an issue with it”.
The book by New Zealand author Dawn McMillan is about a child discovering that his butt has a crack in it and trying to find a new one.
“Find out in this quirky tale of a tail, which features hilarious rhymes and delightful illustrations,” its blurb says. “Children and parents will love this book - no ifs, ands, or butts about it!”
Mr Price said he plans to appeal against his dismissal.
He said he would still do it all over again. “The world’s a serious, harsh, dark place, and everybody needs a little bit of silly and a little bit of laughs every now and then,” NBC News quoted him as saying.
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