A director at an Enfield magnet school in Connecticut has been reprimanded after admitting he made offensive comments to students.
An administrator and a number of students have accused Alvin Schwapp, director of the Capitol Region Education Council's Public Safety Academy, of unleashing a barrage of inappropriate comments while trying to quiet down a cafeteria full of students.
The incident in question happened at the Enfield academy in October.
According to emails and letters from the students and the administrator that were released by the CREC under a Freedom of Information Act request, Schwapp is accused of calling some students "brown kids" and telling them "you have to be deaf, dumb, disrespectful or deranged."
Schwapp was not suspended after the incident, but CREC's superintendent issued a letter of reprimand saying such language would not be tolerated and ordering him to undergo professional training.
In an email to the school's principal, Schwapp acknowledged using the offensive language and apologized.
When reached by phone in his office at the school, Schwapp referred NBC Connecticut to CREC's communications director. In a statement released Tuesday afternoon, CREC's executive director Bruce Douglas defended Schwapp's character.
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"This was an unfortunate and unprofessional incident that represented a moment in time," Douglas said. "We know Mr. Schwapp to be a genuine and decent man, with an outstanding record of service to our nation and to our local community."
But incident has left plenty of Enfield residents and parents outraged.
"That's ridiculous. It's ignorant. Absolutely ignorant," Jason Roeck, of Enfield, said.
Peege Stevens, of Enfield, said, "I think he should not be an educator. Period."
Bruce Vanduzee, of Enfield, expressed shock that language of that nature would come from an administrator.
"That's amazing that someone in a position of authority over our children would speak like that," Vanduzee said.
Some thought the punishment for the incident should be greater.
"I hope he gets more than that. It would be good for him. It's not right," said Stevens.
NBC Connecticut has confirmed Alvin Schwapp was the same person who filed a racial discrimination complaint against the Avon Police Department two decades ago while working there as a police officer. That complaint was settled in the town's favor.
In the 12-count complaint filed in 1993, Schwapp, the first black officer at the Avon Police Department in town history, accused the department of racial profiling, including allegations that Avon police officers were ordered by a superior to stop black and Hispanic drivers on Route 44, avon.patch.com reported. Schwapp resigned in 1994, four years before the lawsuit was eventually disposed, according to Avon Patch.
