"I was angry, heartbroken:" Substitute teacher tells third-grade class Santa Claus, elves aren't real

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- An Ohio mother is upset after a substitute teacher at her daughter's elementary school told a group of third-graders Santa Claus and his elves aren't real.

"She immediately just broke into tears and she said the teacher told her Santa Claus isn't real, Christmas isn't real and Christmas elves aren't real -- it's all made up. I was angry. I was heartbroken. I want to know why she felt is was OK to shatter a childhood -- anybody's childhood," Ashley Coughenour said.

When the principal at Sterling Morton Elementary School was informed of the incident, she called the parents of each student in the class to apologize, and the school district issued a statement saying the substitute teacher's comments were made in "poor taste."

They added the substitute is no longer welcome at the school.