A St. Paul teacher is on paid leave after video was posted online that showed her using a racial slur at school.

A parent of a Highland Park student posted the 23-second video clip Wednesday to various social media channels. It shows the teacher speaking in a hallway with at least five people while a sixth records the conversation.

She appears to say, “I just walk around the room … (unintelligible) just pick on them. They’re black. And they’re the only (expletive) (n-word) doing any work.”

Several parents identified the teacher as Wendy Brilowski, who teaches Spanish at Highland Park Middle School.

It’s unclear who else was part of the conversation. The video quality is poor and does not show any faces.

Brilowski seemed to immediately regret what she said. As one of the five walked away, the teacher said, “I know. I’m sorry.”

Another staff member then seemed to defend Brilowski, suggesting that the teacher was only repeating what someone else had said.

Brilowski could not be reached for comment Thursday.

The school district posted a message Thursday from Superintendent Joe Gothard, which said an unnamed staff member is on administrative leave while the district reviews what happened.

“No matter the situation, the racist and foul language used by a staff member in the video has no place in St. Paul Public Schools,” Gothard wrote. “We will work to understand what happened and take immediate, aggressive action to address this situation.”

Gothard wrote that the staffer’s words harmed Highland Park and its black students and parents.

“Following this incident, we have a lot of work to do to repair harm and rebuild trust with our students and our community. We take that responsibility seriously. We offer a sincere apology for the actions that took place in our building on Wednesday,” he wrote.

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St. Paul schools superintendent gets high marks, but board wants progress on equity, enrollment, student achievement A letter to Highland Park families said the school’s principal met Thursday morning with “the students directly impacted by this situation to encourage and support a conversation.”

Brilowski, who was hired in 2013, has no discipline history, the district said in response to a Pioneer Press public records request.