Utah Teacher Apologizes for Ash Wednesday Cross Incident

Valley View Elementary School teacher Moana Patterson listens as Tiffany Ivens-Spence speaks at a news conference by parents and students to show support for Patterson, in Salt Lake City, Monday, Mar. 11, 2019.Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP

A Utah teacher on administrative leave apologized Monday, March 11, for making 9-year-old Catholic student William McLeod wash off the Ash Wednesday cross from his forehead, saying it was a misunderstanding.

Karen Fisher shows fourth-grader William McLeod at his home in Bountiful, Utah. on April 1, 2018. Karen Fisher via AP