A Lawrence High School teacher is on administrative leave after a student sang a racially offensive song in school, inciting an argument and student protest.

“We’re trying to deal with the aftermath of it and make sure everybody understands it won’t be tolerated,” Principal Steve Nilhas said of the incident.

A white male sophomore was in a study hall-type class last Thursday when the incident occurred, officials said. The song contained racial slurs.

“His lyrics prompted a group of students to confront him about what he was singing about,” district spokeswoman Julie Boyle said.

Teachers stepped in before the argument became physical.

“Something very easily could have occurred if the adults hadn’t been there to separate them and calm them down,” Boyle said.

A teacher involved in the incident was placed on administrative leave with pay pending an investigation, Boyle said.

Calling it a personnel matter, Boyle declined to give details of the teacher’s involvement.

The student whose singing sparked the fight was suspended, Boyle said.

The incident spurred about 10 students to protest the student’s actions by being late to graduation practice Friday.

6News video: Student suspended for racially-offensive song

“I certainly don’t have a problem with them doing that,” Nilhas said of the protest. “It sent a strong message that they were offended by what had been said.”

Word of the incident quickly spread through the school, said Aisha Breckenridge, a junior.

“There’s not a racial problem,” junior Danielle Marsico said. “It’s just some people are very racist.”

Marsico said she wished the school would do more than just suspend the student considering other disruptions receive stricter punishments.

“A student can’t just call someone an n-word or sing a song about it and just get suspended,” Breckenridge said. “If a student brings a pocketknife to the park and he’s out there smoking a cigarette, he gets suspended or expelled for longer — but if a student is saying something derogatory about another student or a group of people he’s just being talked to and suspended for a few days.”

Nilhas said teachers and administrators were trying to bring students together.

“Things have calmed down, and school is going on,” he said.

6News reporter Deanna Richards contributed to this report.