A Texas mother rejected an apology from her daughter's former school as "not good enough" after it took months for officials to notify parents about a teacher's "hooker" role-playing game played with students.
Laura Maria Gruber pulled her seventh grader out of KIPP Poder Academy in San Antonio after learning she was "absolutely grossed out" when her teacher had the class play a rock, paper, scissors alternative, prompting some to pose as "seducing hookers."
Gruber told "Fox & Friends First" Monday she appealed to several tiers of school leadership through the grievance process over the course of several months, but had "no idea" what she was getting into.
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She pulled her daughter out of the school just days following the September incident, but the school did not notify parents until February of the "Bear, Hunter, Hooker" game that had her up in arms.
"Sometimes we stumble… Any activities with actions or words like ‘hooker’ or ‘seduce’ should never have a place in our schools. While the intent was never to sexualize a child, I recognize that the impact may have caused students to feel uncomfortable or traumatized," School Principal Stephanie Lee at KIPP Poder Academy said in letter to families on February 16, obtained by the New York Post.
"I apologize for not communicating sooner; after working with a concerned parent, we acknowledge that we should have shared the incident with you right away, address how we were handling this matter, and make resources available to parents for talking with their children - we promise to be more transparent in the future," she continued.
The letter also offered talking points to parents on how to engage in discussion with them about the incident.
Gruber claimed the game was played in two classrooms, one being her daughter's, although the letter from Lee only addresses one teacher that encouraged students to play the game.
She said one class was even offered candy to motivate them to play the game.
"They were lined up in maturity level, so young as to oldest in one class, and then in another class they were lined up, or they were actually offered candy," she said. "So and it was two separate teachers in two separate classrooms."
Despite the months-long appeal process, the school admitted the game occurred as described; however, four levels of KIPP administration, Principal Stephanie Lee, Deputy Superintendent Jeremy Gray, Regional Superintendent Allen Smith and KIPP: Texas CEO Sehba Ali denied the game "sexualized" children.
In a March 6 letter, KIPP Texas Public Schools Board of Directors Chair Gene Austin also issued an apology to Gruber, noting that the lengthy process may have felt "drawn out" for her and the experience her child had at the school.
Gruber said she is unsure if other families have now pulled their children from the school amid the fallout.
"Since this happened, I pulled my child out, so I didn't really get to address it with other families," Gruber said. "I do know that they just weren't communicated with, like details were not sent home, so why would a parent pull their child if they had no clue?"
"They waited five and a half months after the board got angry to send a letter home with details," she continued.
The teacher in question was not fired, but the school said she would be retrained.
Fox News' Nik Lanum contributed to this report.
