Maplewood School under fire for 'selling' black child at 'slave auction'

MAPLEWOOD — Parents at the Jefferson Elementary School are outraged after white students held a reenactment of a slave auction of a black child during class.

A spokeswoman for the South Orange Maplewood school district said the assignment was not authorized by the district.

Spokeswoman Suzanne Turner said a substitute teacher was in charge of the class at the time. She said the district is looking into training and improved supervisory protocols for substitute teachers.

The mock slave auction happened in the same district where students created posters for slave auctions as part of a curriculum about the colonial era.

Superintendent John Ramos said at a board meeting Monday night that there was no intent to be demeaning in either assignment.