Birmingham school officials and police are investigating after a parent allegedly attacked a teacher at Seaholm High School.
It happened Thursday after a field trip to see the hit movie Hidden Figures - a film about African American women who played an instrumental role in sending astronauts into space.
On the bus ride back to the school, officials said a student used the n-word, setting off a confrontation.
"A situation is being investigated both from a physical altercation point of view as well as a racial, in point of view," said superintendent Daniel Nerad.
A teacher was talking to a student in the hallway about the confrontation when the student's parent arrived and shoved the teacher. The violence broke out in front of other students.
"We're still processing through those witnesses because we have an obligation to insure that our facts are correct, " Nerad said.
The parent was issued a ticket and has been ordered to stay away from the school.
Officials aren't sure what role, if any, race played in the confrontation.
The parent of a student with knowledge of the incident said a white student may have directed the slur at another white student. A black student then confronted them, saying it was not appropriate to use the n-word.
What is clear is that the teacher should not have been assaulted.
"There is certainly no place in a school for anything that is violent in nature. No place whatsoever," Nerad said.
