An Australian high school teacher has come under fire from concerned parents for allegedly identifying as cat and acting weird in front of students.

Australian media have been reporting on the bizarre case of a teacher at Marsden State High School in Logan City, Queensland, who reportedly asked students to refer to her as “Ms. Purr”, allegedly hissing at students and licking the back of her hand. Photos of the unnamed teacher show her wearing a cat-ear headband and a lanyard that reads “purr” in class, which further fueled parents’ concerns that she was behaving inappropriately in class. One parent claimed that the teacher made her daughter purr for a lollypop, while another said that the teacher growled at students if they weren’t paying attention in class.

“She forces the children to call her Miss Purr and cat screeches and growls when they don’t listen,” one parent told The Courier-Mail. “She sits in class and licks her hands. It’s absolutely disgusting. Something needs to be done about this.”

“It’s more frustrating that the mainstream schooling, and education system we are sending our kids to every day has teachers doing things like this,” another parent wrote on Facebook.

The bizarre story went viral online and even reached Queensland’s Department of Education, which confirmed to members of the press that Marsden State High School was “aware of parents’ concerns and was addressing them.

“Teachers are held to the highest standards of professionalism and ethics. This behavior is not acceptable in Queensland state schools,” a statement by the Department of Education read.

At the height of this unusual scandal, Australia’s 7News reported that the teacher in question denied all accusations, claiming that she had asked students to call her Miss Purr because her initials are P.R.R. In a follow-up article on this topic, the Courier-Mail indicated that the teacher was no longer working at the school, despite getting ample support from the faculty and the teacher’s union.