JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Duval County elementary school teacher resigned Monday after a district investigation found evidence to support a complaint that she used inappropriate language in front of students.
Those details surfaced in an investigative report that concluded Jordan Cataldo, a third grade teacher at Carter G. Woodson Elementary, violated state rules on professional conduct and district policies.
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The school district launched an investigation May 26 in response to allegations that she used "inappropriate language, including references to race" toward or in the presence of students.
Specifically, a parent came forward that month with a complaint that Cataldo referred to another teacher's unruly students as "rats" in a racially-charged context.
Assistant Principal Leigh Farrington interviewed staff and students present during the incident. Farrington found Cataldo used the term "rats" while reprimanding another teacher's students.
Cataldo apologized and acknowledged calling troublesome students rats, but denied referring to race. The other teacher said she did not hear Cataldo use the word "rats" or any racial remarks.
Of the nine students interviewed, five remembered Cataldo using the term "rats" to describe students, in the following ways:
- "Something about rats infest places so they need to get out."
- "She said rats should stay in their place, which is outside."
- "She sent [redacted] outside and said rats need to stay outside because that is their place."
- She "called a student a rat and she said that rats infest the room."
- "She said rats belong at the door."
Based on those findings, the district found "sufficient evidence to support that Cataldo made inappropriate comments in the context of her response to what appeared to be disruptive behavior."