A Hoover High school teacher was placed on administrative leave with pay on Monday for using a racial slur when asking students to turn down music they were playing in class last Friday, school system officials today confirmed.

The teacher admitted to using the slur, Hoover school superintendent Dr. Kathy Murphy confirmed.

Shenita Morrow, who is African-American, said her daughter, a senior at Hoover High school, was playing the song "Dear Mama" by Tupac while working on a project in teacher Teddie Butcher's food and nutrition class last Friday. Morrow said students are typically allowed to play music during class.

According to multiple accounts of the incident, when Butcher, who is white, returned to the classroom, she said, "Turn the n****** tunes off."

After Monday night's Hoover Board of Education meeting, Murphy said she was told there was foul language in the song Morrow's daughter was playing, but Morrow disputes that, saying the lyrics contain no profanity.

Morrow said she knows Butcher was referring to the song when she used the racial slur, but the real problem is the "comfort level" Butcher had in saying that word in a group of students. School officials confirmed that Butcher apologized to the class on Monday.

Romel Williams' daughter told her about the incident Friday afternoon. Her daughter saw a video of the incident on Snapchat, Williams said, and also is a friend of Morrow's daughter.

Williams' daughters both said an assistant principal made students delete the video on Monday. Murphy said she was unaware if that was the case and is still looking into the incident.

Murphy said Hoover High School Principal Don Hulin told her what happened Friday evening.

Morrow and her daughter met with Butcher and an assistant principal at Hoover High Monday afternoon. Morrow said during the meeting that Butcher claimed bad language was used in the song, but Morrow disputes that assertion, saying she reviewed the lyrics and there is no profanity.

Morrow said her daughter talked directly with Butcher during the meeting to let her know how hurt she was by Butcher's use of the slur.

Morrow said she knows school officials must follow a process, but, "After meeting with [Butcher], it's just baffling to me how someone does not understand the severity of the weight of that word."

Butcher has not returned AL.com's request for comment.

Hulin is continuing his investigation into the incident, Murphy said, talking with students and parents as well as with the teacher. Murphy said she and Hulin plan to meet with the teacher some time on Tuesday.

When asked if the Hoover Board of Education has a policy to handle an incident like this, Murphy said:

"You certainly have the professionalism, the expectations of faculties and staff and all school personnel to conduct themselves in appropriate, professional, and respectful ways.

"As we are addressing this matter, we will be looking at our board's policy and obviously taking a look at the state Teacher Code about expectations and we'll be putting her conduct and behavior up against what we know is professional conduct of one's self."

Hoover High School is the largest high school in the state, with nearly 2,900 students in the current school year. The student body is diverse: 28 percent of students are African-American, 7 percent are Hispanic, 6 percent are Asian and 55 percent are white.

"We obviously respect and appreciate the diversity that we have," Murphy said.

"It is my expectation as a superintendent that we'll treat all students with significant respect, that we'll conduct ourselves as professionals, and the things that come out of our mouths are to be respectful and professional," Murphy said. When we fail to do that, it's certainly not acceptable."

Murphy said she was not sure what the final course of action would be taken until she sees the results of Hulin's full investigation.

Hoover City Councilman Derrick Murphy (no relation to the superintendent) said he first learned of the incident on Monday morning through social media. He told AL.com, "There should be no tolerance for this behavior in our city or schools."

Councilman Murphy, who served on the district's board of education from 2011 until 2016, said he has since forwarded his concerns to district administration and has full confidence that the superintendent and her team will handle this appropriately.

Williams said she was aware of Butcher's apology to the class, but if a student had used a racial slur against the teacher, an apology from the student would not suffice, Williams said.

"I don't think she belongs at Hoover High school anymore." Williams said her daughter was upset by the incident and she wants her children to feel safe at school.

"That would set the record straight that this behavior isn't acceptable," Williams added.

Morrow's daughter, Mahogheny, a junior at Hoover, said she hopes administrators address the incident with the entire school. She said when students have used derogatory language toward African-American students at the school in the past, teachers try and cover it up.

Morrow said she feels administrators are now taking the incident more seriously. She hopes more students and parents will be encouraged to speak up when incidents like this occur.

"It's okay to speak for yourself if you think you've been wronged," Morrow said.

Williams said she hopes teachers really listen to how this incident makes students feel. "Maybe they can understand the impact of using those types of words in their classroom," she said, "and how it affects their students and how it affects the climate and atmosphere of the school after something like this happens."

This article was updated at 10:30 p.m. to include Morrow's and her daughter's comments.