GLOUCESTER, Mass. — A 12-year-old middle school student asked his school to train its staff in facilitating discussions about politics because he says a teacher belittled him when he expressed support for President Donald Trump in class.

The family of Jackson Cody, of Gloucester, hired an attorney and wrote to administrators of O’Maley Innovation Middle School in early October asking for the teacher to apologize and for the school to train staff to respect the views of students, the Gloucester Daily Times reported.

After the letter was sent to the school, the teacher called Cody’s mother to explain what happened and to apologize, Superintendent Ben Lummis told the newspaper. She also apologized to the student in class the next day.

School principal Lynne Beattie told staff in an email that a training is scheduled next week, the newspaper reported.

Comments are not available on this story.