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Jeanine Rupert, a sixth-grade teacher who taught at Phoebe Hearst Elementary in Sacramento, Calif., was reassigned after she reportedly pulled up a carpet in her classroom that covered tiles containing asbestos

An investigation by the school district found the carpet removal did not disturb the tiles that would lead to potential asbestos exposure for the students

"My sister did what a caring teacher ought to do – she tried to fix the problem," Kathryn O'Brien, Rupert's sibling, tells PEOPLE

The family of a popular, longtime California sixth-grade teacher who was reassigned after she removed a piece of carpeting in her classroom that covered asbestos tiles is saying that the school district’s move has left her distraught.

“It absolutely devastated her,” Tim O’Brien, the

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