The white headmaster of a Catholic school in New York is in hot water after allegedly telling a Black student to kneel and apologize, saying it was “the African way.”

St. Martin de Porres School in Long Island, New York, temporarily removed the headmaster from his position, according to the New York Daily News.

Trisha Paul, the mom of the 11-year-old boy who was allegedly told to kneel, told CNN that she noticed that her son was sad after school last month.

He reportedly told her that he was working on an assignment for a class during the designated reading session when a teacher ripped it up and reported him to the headmaster’s office where the incident occurred.

“I was filled with all different types of emotion,” Paul said.

The school’s acting headmaster, Brother James Conway, told CNN in a statement:

“St. Martin’s neither condones nor accepts the actions of our headmaster. The incident does not reflect our long, established values or the established protocols regarding student-related issues.

“We have launched an internal review of the incident and restated in the clearest terms what is the established and approved practice for student-faculty interaction,” Conway continued. “Our most important mission here at St. Martin’s is to provide our children with the spiritual and educational foundation that will allow them to lead exemplary lives.”

Paul switched her son to remote learning, removing him from in-person classes.

“He has become extremely quiet,” she said. “His interactions with everyone — family, friends — has changed. He’s sad. He has questions. He’s just trying to cope with this.”