MILWAUKEE — A Milwaukee woman made her initial court appearance Tuesday on six felony charges after authorities say she snuck into Rufus King High School, impersonated a substitute teacher, and used racial slurs and other insulting language against students.
Amy Jones faces one felony count of representing herself as a public employee and five felony counts of exposing a child to harmful descriptions.
Authorities say Jones was able to pass through security, sign in at the front desk and enter a classroom almost two weeks ago. She then allegedly insulted multiple students about their race, weight and appearance calling one student "fat boy" and using the F-word, the B-word and the N-word.
"This case is very concerning as a parent," Milwaukee County Court Commissioner Rosa Barillas said.
"We send our kids to school expecting them to be safe and not exposed to harm, that didn't happen," Barillas said.
Courtney Daniels has a sophomore at Rufus King. She said the security lapse was troubling.
"It kind of hurt me to know that just anybody could get in the school with my kid and we're sending our children to school to be cared for and protected," Daniels said.
On the day of the incident, Rufus King sent a notice to parents stating a substitute teacher had made inappropriate comments. It wasn't until October 5 that parents were told Jones was impersonating a substitute.
Daniels said the incident has impacted her daughter.
"She's a little concerned about people getting into school and what's going on and if security is really doing their job to get people in the school," Daniels said.
Parents I spoke to are now hoping for accountability and changes from the district, as MPS said a mistake inside the Rufus King office led to the issue.
In a letter sent to parents Tuesday, Principal Doreen Badillo wrote that "the office did not follow proper district protocol in validating" Jones. Badillo continued that the office must check each substitute to confirm they are in the substitute system and assigned before letting them in something that did not happen. The school said it is working to review protocols for the future.
"I think she should definitely be made an example of, and going forward it shouldn't happen again," Daniels said.
During Tuesday's court appearance, Jones' attorney outlined her history of mental health issues. Jones was arrested at a psychiatric facility.
Jones is expected to return to court later this month.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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