Florida Teacher Fired For Discussing Pansexual Identity
A Florida teacher was fired from her school for engaging in discussions with students about her pansexuality.
A middle school Florida teacher believes she was let go for talking about sexual identity in her classroom. Not only did she talk about how she identifies, but she had some of the students do the same. The art teacher then allowed the middle school students to draw flags based on how they identified.
Casey Scott used to teach art at Trafalgar Middle School in Cape Coral, Florida. She was in her first year at the school and said to NBC 2 News, “A discussion happened in class and because of that, now I’m fired.” It was a discussion, Scott claims, that was spurred on by her students asking her about her sexual identity. Not wanting to beat around the bush or outright lie to her students, Scott gave them a very candid answer.
The Florida teacher then proceeded to tell them that she was pansexual. “I like anyone despite male, female, non-binary, transgender,” Scott said to her students. She told her students she was married to a man but when she used the word “pansexual,” many of the students didn’t understand what that meant. So, Casey explained that pansexual means that a person likes anyone, regardless of their gender identity.
The Florida teacher then said her art students asked if they could draw flags that represented their own sexual identity. “A lot of the kids came up to me and were like, ‘oh well I’m non-binary’, and a couple kids said, ‘oh well I’m bi’. One kid said they’re gay,” Scott said of allowing the children to draw their own flags. When they finished their project, Scott proudly displayed them in her classroom.
It wasn’t long before the Florida teacher was approached by the school administrators to remove the flags. “They said it would be in the best interest if I got rid of them,” Scott said via The Independent. And that is exactly what she did. She took each flag down, crumbling them up. “I went over to the recycling bin. I grabbed all their flags and all the kids were staring at me. And I crumbled their flags in front of them,” she said.
Not long after her failed classroom exercise, Scott was sent home. Not long after that, the Florida teacher received a call from the school telling her she was being relieved of her duties. They did not give her a specific reason as to why her services were no longer necessary at the school. Scott said she was told by the school simply, “At this time we are releasing you from your contract.”
According to the Lee County School District, they said of Scott’s firing, “The District exercised its right to terminate the teacher’s probationary contract because she did not follow the state-mandated curriculum.” The release of the Florida teacher came mere days before Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed his Parental Rights in Education Bill that officially prohibits teachers from any classroom instruction centering on sexual orientation or gender identity in grades K-3 but also “in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students.”
The Teachers Association of Lee County spokesperson Kevin Daly says legally, the school district was well within its rights to let the Florida teacher go. “During that probationary period they can let you go without cause,” Daly said. He also confirmed the fact that Scott was not a member of the teachers’ union.
Daly feels that the Florida teacher’s firing may begin to open eyes for teachers working in the Sunshine State when it comes to having discussions with students about sexual orientation or gender identity. “There is kind of a heightened state of where is the boundary? And what are employees supposed to do? Or allowed to do, when a topic comes up in discussion.”
Crystal Czyscon, an LGBTQ advocate, says her only concern is for the well-being and mental health of the LGBTQ middle school students in Scott’s class. She also feels that the school district made a huge mistake with the firing of the Florida teacher. “I would like to see a statement from the school board recognizing they have to have a mental health counselor come in and speak with the children impacted by their actions toward this teacher,” Czyscon said.
Was the Lee County School District correct in their firing of Scott? What about the middle school children who came out to the Florida teacher? Should they be allowed to discuss these matters in school? Where do you stand on this? Let us know.
