Melinda Smith said her teenage son came home from school one day with "WTF is this? Absolutely no credit" written as part of the teacher's remarks on the student's assignment.
"I think for sure she needs to be reprimanded. I believe that something should be placed in her file," Smith said.
The teacher told the local news station WJHG that she did not want to respond publicly to the comment.
"Once we were notified, I notified district officials and our HR has been involved and they're currently investigating the situation," said Rutherford High School Principal Coy Pilson. "All of the teachers at Rutherford High School are caring, loving teachers and we're also human and so we make mistakes, but we understand that we are called to a high professional standard and when we make mistakes we try to correct those mistakes and move forward."
It is unclear if the school will take corrective action with the teacher whose identity is not being made public.