LAKE WORTH BEACH, Fla. — A Lake Worth Community High School teacher who compared students' skin tones to different types of coffee is now out of a job.
The Palm Beach County School Board voted Wednesday to fire math teacher Cary Altschuler after what the school's principal called a "racially-charged incident" that was "egregiously inappropriate."
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"Extra Cream." "Medium Roast." "Dark Roast."
That visual description of students' skin color was displayed in Altschuler's Lake Worth Community High School classroom in February, according to a School District of Palm Beach County investigation.
The teacher, who worked at the school since 2020 and taught AP statistics and precalculus, was removed from the classroom following the incident after students reported it to other teachers, saying it made them uncomfortable.
During a school district investigation, Altschuler explained that "there were two students calling each other light skinned and he jumped in the conversation and told the students if they were going to do something like that, please be creative with it. And that is when there were the pictures on the Smart Board. He said it was wrong of him to jump in and discuss skin tones."
The teacher admitted that "he posted the three students' pictures on the Smart Board during his math class and that he took the pictures from the SIS software that teachers use for student grades and attendance. Two of the pictures were students in the classroom at the time and the other student was from last year."
Altschuler said none of his students voiced concerns at the time.
Altschuler apologized to principal Elena Villani and stated that "he did things that he should not have. He does not deny joking with students about skin tones."
Altschuler also admitted to telling students that slavery wasn't that bad, portraying a plantation owner's perspective. He told school district investigators that he is "not a traditional teacher... there is joking but there is no ill intention behind it."
"I am not a traditional teacher and this is my second career," Altschuler said, according to school district investigative documents. "I'm doing what I can, I teach them the material, I teach them the standards, I teach them what they have to learn. I also try to get them to think outside of being spoon fed information by their teacher on how to solve the problem."
During the investigation, students reported that they felt Altschuler was racist and made uncomfortable statements during his math class.
The school district investigation showed Altschuler violated multiple district policies including ethical misconduct, inappropriate comments/interaction with students, and failure to follow established policies.
Altschuler's termination is effective Aug. 25. He will begin unpaid suspension on Aug. 4, allowing time for an appeal.
