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A Utah school district has placed a teacher on administrative leave for forcing a 9-year-old student to remove the\u00a0cross of ashes from his forehead on Ash Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Student William McLeod, who is Catholic, was left crying and embarrassed by the experience in a\u00a0Davis School District classroom, grandmother Karen Fisher said. The teacher told McLeod that the cross\u00a0was inappropriate and forced him to wash it off, according to Fisher’s account of the incident.<\/p>\n
“We take the matter very seriously and are investigating the situation. The teacher is currently on administrative leave,” Davis School District spokesman\u00a0Christopher Williams told USA TODAY in a written statement on Thursday.<\/p>\n
“We are sorry about what happened and apologize to the student and the family for the teacher\u2019s actions. The actions were unacceptable. No student should ever be asked or required to remove an ash cross from his or her forehead,” the statement reads.<\/p>\n
Ash Wednesday \u2013\u00a0officially known as the Day of Ashes \u2013\u00a0is a day of repentance, when Christians confess their sins and profess their devotion to God<\/a>. The\u00a0ashes are placed on a worshiper’s forehead in the shape of a cross.\u00a0The symbol\u00a0is meant to show\u00a0that a person belongs to\u00a0Jesus Christ, and it also represents\u00a0a person’s grief and mourning for their sins.<\/p>\n In an interview with Salt Lake City’s Fox 13<\/a>,\u00a0McLeod said he was the only student in his class who had an ash cross. When he was asked to remove the cross by his teacher, he says he tried to explain its significance.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cShe took me aside and she said, \u2018You have to take it off,\u2019\u201d McLeod told the station. \u201cShe gave me a disinfection wipe \u2013 whatever they are called \u2013 and she made me wipe it off.\u201d<\/p>\n Williams says the teacher gave the student a handwritten apology. He also told USA TODAY that the school district worked with the family\u00a0to have an\u00a0ordained Catholic deacon\u00a0apply an ash cross to\u00a0McLeod’s\u00a0forehead.\u00a0<\/p>\n Contributing:\u00a0Brett Molina, USA TODAY;\u00a0Dwight Adams, Indianapolis Star; The Associated Press<\/em><\/p>\n This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Utah teacher on leave after forcing student to wash off Ash Wednesday cross<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n