The Houston Chronicle reported Thursday that the teacher's comments were captured on a tape recorder a student's mother had placed in her daughter's backpack.

"If it's true, it's a serious breach of a teacher's responsibility to children, and it will be dealt with swiftly and surely," Houston Independent School District spokesman Terry Abbott was quoted by the newspaper as saying.

Principal Art Castillo said the pre-kindergarten teacher was removed from her classroom and reassigned to an administrative job.

"There were comments on the tape, allegedly made by the teacher, that were reprehensible and totally unacceptable," he said.

Abbott said the unidentified teacher, first hired by the district in 1977, was suspended for one day without pay in December on evidence that she had slapped a pupil.