School division sorry after employee dressed up as Spice Girl with blackface

An Alberta school division is apologizing after a staff member dressed in costume at a Christian school wore blackface.

Elk Island Public Schools said in a statement that it is taking immediate action to address the behaviour with the employee.

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A screen capture of a photo on Twitter shows a woman wearing dark face makeup while dressed up as Mel B, who was “Scary Spice” in the all-girl, British band the Spice Girls.

She is standing with other adults posing as celebrity judges in a talent event at Strathcona Christian Academy in Sherwood Park, just east of Edmonton.

The school division says an apology is being sent home to parents.

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It also plans to further educate employees at the school and throughout the division about respecting all races and cultures.

“It is our intention to ensure that an incident of this kind is not repeated,” the statement said.