Teacher removed after telling first graders that Santa isn't real

Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images

A Brooklyn teacher got the boot from the classroom for telling his first-grade class that Santa Clause isn't real.

Parents at the Park Slope elementary school say their children as young as 5-years-old came home crying Monday because their substitute teacher told them Santa was a myth.

"It's three weeks before Christmas," one mother told News 12. "These kids are 6 years old."

In a letter to parents, the principal of P.S. 321 said she was "extremely upset" to hear about the incident.

It happened during a lesson about "convincing" people about things.

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The act landed the teacher on the naughty list, according to the principal.

"I guarantee you that this substitute will not be in class 1-216 again," Principal Liz Phillips said in a letter to parents. "We take this very seriously."

Phillips says an investigation continues.