Toby Price: Mississippi school teacher FIRED for reading 'I Need a New Butt!' to kids
An assistant principal of a Mississippi elementary school said that he was fired after choosing to read a book about butts to a group of second graders. Toby Price was fired from Gary Road Elementary School in Byram after he read Dawn McMillan's book titled 'I Need a New Butt!' to 7-year-old and 8-year-old students last week, as per reports. He is also a first-grade, fourth-grade, and fifth-grade teacher.
Price shared that he had been fired by the Hinds County School District "for reading an awesome book to kids" in a March 7 Facebook post. He also created a GoFundMe page, in which he described "I Need a New Butt!" as a "funny silly book" that children love. The synopsis of the book reads, "A young boy suddenly notices a big problem, his butt has a huge crack! So he sets off to find a new one. Will he choose an armor-plated butt? A rocket butt?... Find out in this quirky tale of a tail."
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Price wrote on the GoFundMe page, "I am just looking for some help to pay bills while I look for another job. I have two kids with autism and another BPD. Thank you for helping. We have found an attorney and need help with the fee."
Price admitted that he stepped in to do the reading after a guest reader failed to show up. He told WLBT, "My boss told me to 'go ahead and read'. So, I grabbed one of my favorite books that I had nearby, I read it to them."
"I didn't think twice about reading it because I've never had an issue with it before", Price said, adding, "There are other books that have much more suggestive material that are much more widely accepted."
Hinds County School district, of which Gary Road Elementary is a part of, in a termination letter criticized Price for causing "unnecessary embarrassment" and blamed his "lack of professionalism and impaired judgment," according to WJTV. It is still unclear if the reading sparked complaints among students or parents. As per reports, Price has worked in the education sector for 18 years and has ten years of experience as a school principal.
Board members of the Hinds County School District are set to hold talks over the incident, although a specific date has yet to be decided.