DES MOINES – A Lincoln High School staff member says she was forced to resign after repeating a racial slur while reporting a student’s behavior — a decision an Iowa judge has now ruled did not amount to misconduct. The incident unfolded in May 2025 inside a study hall at Des Moines’ Lincoln High School.
State records show Anne Eslinger, a study hall monitor at Lincoln High School, was given a choice on May 16, 2025: resign immediately or be fired. The district’s action came after she repeated a racial slur a student had used while she was seeking help from another staff member.
The day before her resignation, Eslinger was supervising students when one student allegedly began harassing another and repeatedly used a racial slur. Eslinger instructed the student to stop and then escorted him to the school’s student services center for discipline.
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According to testimony, the student continued using the slur while they waited. Eslinger attempted to get the attention of a discipline coordinator, first by telling them what the student was saying, and then by repeating the word aloud to illustrate the behavior. Only then, she said, did the coordinator intervene…