Florida high school teacher fired after comparing students’ skin tones to coffee roasts
High school math teacher is fired after comparing students’ skin tones to coffee roasts, including ‘extra cream’, ‘medium roast’ and ‘dark roast’
- Cary Altschuler, who worked at Lake Worth High School, made the racially charged comments in February
- He was fired Wednesday by the Palm Beach County School Board after they launched an investigation
- Some students came forward and shared with a few other teachers how the ordeal made them feel uncomfortable
A Florida high school math teacher has been fired after a “racist incident” in which he compared the skin color of students to different types of coffee roasting.
Cary Altschuler, who taught AP statistics and precalculus at Lake Worth High School, posted photos of three students on his smartboard, along with the labels: “Extra Cream,” “Medium Roast,” and “Dark Roast.”
He claims he did it in response to two students who started calling each other “light-skinned.” Altschuler reportedly told the students that if they wanted to make fun of each other’s skin color, they had to be more creative.
Altschuler pulled the shocking stunt in February and was fired Wednesday by the Palm Beach County School Board after they launched an investigation.
Dr. Lake Worth High School principal Elena Villani called the incident “abnormally inappropriate” in a letter to parents apologized for the “disturbing” situation, calling it a “racially charged incident.”
The smartboard (pictured) used during the February incident in Cary Altschuler’s classroom at Lake Worth Community High School
Cary Altschuler, who taught AP statistics and precalculus at Lake Worth High School, made the comments in February and was fired Wednesday by the Palm Beach County School Board after they conducted an investigation
According to WPTV, Altschuler admitted that he posted the photos of the three students on the Smart Board during his math class and that he took the photos with the SIS software teachers use for student grades and attendance.
Two of the photos were students in class at the time of the incident and the other was from last year.
Some students told a few teachers at the school what had happened and how this made them very uncomfortable. They also took to social media to share the horrible experience.
The ex-teacher said he was just joking with the students in his class, but then realized he had made a ‘big mistake’ and later admitted it “It was wrong of him to jump in and talk about skin tones.”
He apologized to director Elena Villani and said he “did things he shouldn’t have done.”
WPTV reports that Altschuler also admitted to telling students that slavery wasn’t so bad, portraying a plantation owner’s perspective.
“I’m not a traditional teacher and this is my second career,” Altschuler said, according to school district investigative documents that WPTV perused.
“I do what I can, I teach them the material, I teach them the standards, I teach them what to learn.
“I also try to get them to think beyond the information they’ve been spoon-fed from their teacher about how to solve the problem.”
While Altschuler was being examined, he was removed from the classroom and placed in a position where he would not have any interaction with students.
During that investigation, his students reported finding him racist and making awkward statements during math class, WPTV reports.
The former teacher, who had been working at the high school since 2020, was officially fired when the Palm Beach County School council voted him out.
They cited ethical violations, including “engaging in bullying or harassing behavior based on race,” CBS12 reported.
According to his Linkedin profile, Altschuler has been working as a freelance data analyst since this month.