NEWBURYPORT, MASS. (WHDH) - The Newburyport community is expressing outrage over a high school homework question that mentioned the September 11th attacks.
The math problem asked how long a plane was in the air before hitting the World Trade Center and if it was traveling at a certain speed.
“Mind-boggling to me; so insensitive. I don’t know what they’re thinking,” said Dave Quinones, a Newburyport resident.
School officials issued an apology, saying they did not mean to disrespect those affected by the tragedy.
“I would say that kind of missed the mark. I don’t see the necessity to do that,” resident Angelica Faron said.
The school district said it recognizes the important of honoring the men and women who lost their lives in the September 11th terrorist attack.
The superintendent released a statement that reads in part:
This assignment was not intended to be disrespectful to the thousands impacted by this horrible event. Rather this was an exercise of poor judgement by the educator who intended to use the historical event as a mechanism to engage students in a thoughtful discussion.
The school has not said whether the teacher has been disciplined but did say that they would be talking to all their instructors to discuss how they can be more sensitive about tragic events in the future.
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