Loudoun Co. teacher under fire for having high school students handle cotton during history class

A teacher in Loudoun County, Virginia, has come under fire after having students handle a raw piece of cotton during a history lesson that touched on the invention of the cotton gin and slavery.

History class took place Dec. 5 at Riverside High School in Leesburg.

As part of a discussion about cotton, the teacher gave a sample of raw cotton among the students, some of whom became angry.

In a letter sent to parents Friday, Principal Doug Anderson said “lessons of this nature can cause students to feel any number of emotions,” adding “some students in the class may have used the situation as a way to act in an insensitive way.”

“This is not what we are trying to achieve in our classrooms, and we will strive to do better,” Andersen wrote in the letter. “Every individual is valued in Loudoun County Public Schools.”

Andersen sent out another message Thursday addressing the incident, but he “accidentally sent it to students only,” he said in his follow-up letter.

In response to the incident, Loudoun County Public Schools said the department’s Division of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility would work hand-in-hand with the Division of Teaching and Learning to “develop additional guidance” to outline situations where lessons could be tied to trauma.

LCPS further acknowledged that the policy requires parents to be made aware of any lessons related to sensitive topics, a step that was not taken before. Officials said they will work to clarify situations where parents must be notified of planned classroom topics.

School department leaders said they intend to work with all students who were affected by the history lesson and provide support.

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