This 1994 file photo shows Mumia Abu Jamal at the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections Facility in Huntington, Pennsylvania. (credit: Clark Kissinger/AFP/Getty Images)

ORANGE, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) — A teacher in New Jersey who assigned her third-grade class to write “get well” letters to a sick inmate convicted of killing a Philadelphia police officer was suspended Friday, the school superintendent said.

Orange School Superintendent Ronald Lee said in a statement that school administrators “vehemently deny” any knowledge of Forest Street Elementary School teacher Marilyn Zuniga’s assignment. Preliminary inquiries found that Zuniga did not seek approval from administrators, nor were parents notified, Lee said.

The letters were delivered to Mumia Abu-Jamal in prison following his hospitalization last month for what his family said was treatment for complications from diabetes.

“Just dropped off these letters to comrade Johanna Fernandez. My 3rd graders wrote to Mumia to lift up his spirits as he is ill. #freemumia,” read a tweet posted Sunday on Zuniga’s Twitter account, which has since been taken down.