The Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology is investigating an incident in which a longtime agriculture teacher from Elk City presented a black colleague with a Ku Klux Klan robe and made racist comments at a recent conference in Oklahoma City.
Department spokeswoman Paula Bowles confirmed the investigation on Wednesday and said the agency is taking steps to ensure that kind of "offensive behavior" doesn't take place in the future.
Bowles say agency officials launched the investigation immediately after learning of "deplorable actions and comments" made by retired agriculture-education teacher Larry Long during the agency's summer conference last week.
Telephone calls to Long's Elk City residence went unanswered Wednesday.
Members of the Oklahoma Legislative Black Caucus called for more African Americans to be appointed to senior positions with the agency.