WAYNE — A township teacher lost her tenured position and recently had her teaching license suspended after making inappropriate comments about a student's name on Facebook, according to the state's licensing agency for teachers.

Yvette Nichols previously told the Board of Examiners that the student's name had a curse word in it, and that her comments were immature, but not a reason to lose her license permanently, according to the order suspending her license.

According to the board's order, Nichols posted a screenshot of an assignment one of her students had completed, which instructed students to “practice writing my name the kindergarten way.”

"The student's name contained a curse word and Nichols allegedly posted 'I want to ask the parents if I can change it' and 'I still can't get over the student's name!'" it said. "In response to others' comments about the name, Nichols allegedly wrote "How do you think I feel when I have to address him???? I literally can't stop laughing! I have to go all year with this’---!!!'"

The school district investigated the allegations and determined that Nichols had violated the district’s harassment, intimidation and bullying policy. Nichols later resigned from her position, but she has denied bullying the student.

In her response, Nichols has said that the boy had only been her student for a few days and she “obviously did not harbor any ill will towards the young man or his family during such a short time period.”

Nichols admitted in her responses to the board that she had made inappropriate comments, but that "the curse word in the name was the target of the Facebook post, not the child himself.” Nichols told the board she was remorseful over the incident.

According to the board's order, Nichols told the agency that her comments were based on the uniqueness of the student’s name and that there was nothing to indicate that they were based on the student’s national origin.

Nichols told the board her conduct was the result of a lapse in judgement and that it didn't warrant the revocation of her teaching certificates. Nichols, who is a single parent, told the board she was under significant stress at the time due to a recent divorce and struggling with diabetes.

The board agreed not to revoke Nichols' teaching certificates permanently, instead ordering a one-year suspension of them because she had "fully accepted responsibility for her actions."

"She has also undertaken counseling to deal with her level of stress and many responsibilities," it said. "She has also had a long record of teaching experience free of any disciplinary action. However, although the Board cannot condone Nichols’ actions, her sincere sense of remorse coupled with her long and unblemished record and her cogent explanation of what transpired in her life during that time period, militate against the revocation of her certificates. Thus, the Board believes that the appropriate sanction in this case is the suspension of Nichols’ certificates."

The entire Board of Examiners order is available on the state Department of Education's website.

Justin Zaremba may be reached at jzaremba@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinZarembaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

