A New Jersey teacher is under fire for posting a racist comment to Facebook about missing 5-year-old Dulce Maria Alavez, according to a report.
Jennifer Hewitt Bishop, who is in her second year of teaching in the Vineland Public School District, said Dulce’s family is to blame for the disappearance of the little girl, who has been missing since Sept. 16, NJ.com reported.
“They’re Mexican, it’s their culture,” the teacher’s comment said, according to the report. “They don’t supervise their children like we do.”
Multiple people reported Hewitt Bishop’s comment by messaging the Vineland district’s Facebook page, Joe Rossi, the district’s executive director of personnel, told NJ.com.
The person who monitors the page reported it to district administrators, according to Rossi.
“Everything is being evaluated,” Rossi told the outlet, adding that the school board will discuss the teacher during a private personnel meeting Wednesday night. “We’ll have an outcome shortly.”
He added that Hewitt Bishop was “not in the classroom,” but would not clarify whether she was suspended or on leave.
Bishop did not respond to a request for comment from NJ.com.
Investigators believe Dulce was abducted from the 1,000-acre Bridgeton City Park as she played with her 3-year-old brother, Manuel, at a playground while their mother waited in a car.
The FBI has been in touch with Dulce’s father, Edgar Perez, who is in Mexico, the outlet reported Tuesday. Investigators declined to provide additional details.