ARLINGTON, Va. 鈥 A high school teacher in northern Virginia has been relieved of his teaching duties after he cited the death of George Floyd in a chemistry assignment.
Thursday that the Arlington teacher asked students to insert the name of a chemical element to complete a sentence regarding how the Black man died in Minneapolis police custody.
The sentence read: 鈥淕eorge Floyd couldn鈥檛 breathe because a police officer put his” blank 鈥淕eorge鈥檚 neck.” The answer was the chemical element 鈥渘eon.鈥
Arlington Public Schools spokesman Frank Bellavia said the teacher has since been 鈥渞elieved of teaching duties pending an investigation.鈥 Superintendent Francisco Dur谩n apologized for the incident in a letter to families and staff.
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.