By Ashleigh Costello
EAGnews.org

BRADENTON, Fla. –  Parents are up in arms over a Florida school district’s decision to issue only a verbal warning to an elementary school teacher who described an 8-year-old student as “the evolutionary link between orangutans and humans” on Facebook.

Lauren Orban, a music teacher at Rogers Garden Elementary School, made the disparaging comments on the social media site in May, identifying the boy by his initials.  After learning of the online posts from the school registrar, Principal Ann Broomes verbally reprimanded Orban and teachers Emma Disley and Laura Cross, who joined in the online discussion, reports Gainesville.com.

MORE NEWS: Know These Before Moving From Cyprus To The UK

“I’m disgusted with how they talked about my child,” said the boy’s mother, Lisa Wade.  “It hurts.”

Wade’s attorney, Sasha Watson, called the verbal reprimand a “mere slap on the wrist” and “an injustice,” during a news conference Tuesday.

“At a minimum, the teacher should be suspended without pay,” said Watson. “I believe that teachers should be held to higher standards, and should not be commenting about children on Facebook…We cannot have comments by teachers likening their students to monkeys.”

Superintendent Tim McGonegal defended the district’s actions on Tuesday, arguing the principal was in the best position to deal with the issue.  According to McGonegal, Broomes described Orban as an “awesome teacher who made a mistake.”

It was a judgment that administrators were “comfortable with, and I am happy with the action they took,” he said.  “I can’t go back on every decision they make.”

District policy does not permit revisiting disciplinary decisions, and McGonegal did forward the details of Orban’s conduct to the state Department of Education, which could revoke Orban’s teaching license, reports the news site.

MORE NEWS: How to prepare for face-to-face classes

The state typically takes a couple of months to investigate cases.  In the meantime, Orban will most likely still be at Rogers Garden when school resumes in August, to the displeasure of many community members.

“We’re outraged,” said Rodney Jones, a NAACP committee chairman and a member of Roger Garden’s School Advisory Council.  “No student should be called something like that, especially a black student.”

Orban’s comments serve as another embarrassment for the district in recent years.  In 2010, the school district was forced to respond to another teacher’s inappropriate Facebook comments.  In that case, teacher Charles Willis shared with students stories about drinking too much alcohol, questionable photos and wrote profane acronyms, said the news site.

“The school district should have a social media policy,” said Susie Copeland, president of the Manatee NAACP.  “We will be communicating our position with the superintendent.  We do not tolerate that type of behavior from any public employees.  You are there to educate and not to humiliate.”

A draft of a social media policy remains a point of contention between district officials and the Manatee Education Association.

Parents and community members are planning a protest outside the School Support Center.

“We want to continue to raise awareness of the situation, and we are just trying to apply some pressure on the district,” said Jones.

Hopefully, the school district pays attention and listens to what parents have to say.