— Two Mount Olive physical education teachers have lost their jobs and been stripped of their tenure following racial remarks the two made about African-American students last year, according to the state education commissioner.

Two Mount Olive teachers were brought up on administrative charges last year after they allegedly made derogatory racial comments about African-American students.

Brigitte Geiger and Sharon Jones were brought up on six administrative charges by Larrie Reynolds, the superintendent, on March 23, 2012 for unbecoming conduct and other charges based on a conversation they had in the locker room on March 2, 2012 that was overheard by two students, according to the Office of Administrative Law records.

Administrative Law Judge Tiffany Williams, who heard the initial case, said in her ruling this past July one of the students told school officials that Jones said, "Yeah those Negroes think they are tough (expletive)," to which Geiger replied "Yeah, that’s all they are, just a bunch of Negroes, Negroes, Negroes.” The other student's account in the decision was similar, but had more profanity.

Both students provided handwritten accounts of the events to school officials, according to court records.

In her decision, Williams said "both Geiger and Jones' own testimony revealed frustrations with a group of African-American students at the school, which tends to lend credence to the credibility of the complaining students." Williams, who only ruled on the charge of unbecoming conduct, dismissed the pair for their conduct, "including their lack of contrition."

Geiger and Jones lost their case before the OAL on July 8, and on Oct. 8, the state education commissioner issued a decision upholding the OAL's ruling.

After the charges were filed in March 2012, Reynolds said, Geiger and Jones were put on administrative assignment for most of last year, and performed clerical work around the district "mostly in libraries." The women did not return to school this September following the OAL's ruling this summer, Reynolds said.

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Reynolds said the pair, who had been on administrative leave since September, were officially terminated on Oct. 8.

"It's unfortunate that it occurred," Reynolds said. "We wish the employees the very best in the future. We have an obligation to our students and staff to uphold the highest standards of professional conduct. We take that seriously, and unfortunately, in some cases, it warrants action like this. This was an unfortunate incident and we had to do what we thought was right."

Reynolds said the district has terminated people before, but, to his knowledge, it's never had to take a tenure matter to the OAL before.

Geiger, a Flanders resident, was the head field hockey coach at the time of the incident and had served as a teacher for 28 years. Jones was a teacher for 30 years.

The commissioner's decision has also been submitted to the state Board of Examiners for action against Geiger and Jones' teaching certificates.

A message left for Terel Klein, who represented the teachers in the OAL case, has not yet been returned.