Public school teacher lost his job after he reportedly wrote message encouraging LGBTQ students on his classroom board. Per reports, the message read “You are free to be yourself with me.” The educator, who was a music teacher at the intermediate school, posted a photo of the message on his Facebook page. His message included a rainbow flag, a transgender flag and rainbow colors. Many parents believe the educator’s message was inappropriate. The music teacher resigned from the school on his own recognizance. The superintendent said the main issue stemmed from a conversation that took place during class.
The reacher from Kentucky, Tyler Morgan, reportedly resigned after the LGBTQ message he wrote on his classroom board angered many parents. Morgan was a music teacher at WIIS, which teaches third through fifth grade students.
According to WKYT, he public school teacher reportedly posted a photo of the message on his Facebook page. His message also included a rainbow flag, a transgender flag and rainbow colors.
“You are free to be yourself with me. You matter,” the message read.
Many parents believe the educator’s message was inappropriate.
The music teacher reportedly resigned from the school on his own recognizance.
“I resigned from WIIS effective immediately on my own recognizance. That’s all I’m saying on this matter Publicly as of right now.
Please give me time and space to grieve and process. I don’t know what’s in store for me but right now, I know just need time to get my head straight.” the music teacher wrote on his social media account.
Tyler Morgan also wrote on his Facebook profile:
“I still firmly believe more work needs to be done in Kentucky, especially in Eastern Kentucky, to ensure that more resources are provided to make sure all students feel safe, secure, and seen, not just the ones that come out as part of any community or share hardships.
My hope is that every educator that sees this is empowered, passionate, and actively working to make a change in the world of education as I am.”
The County’s Board of Education is investigating.
Superintendent Saylor said he had no problem with the statement, explaining the district must meet the needs of all students and families. The superintendent also said the main issue stemmed from a conversation that took place during class.
According to NY Daily News, it’s not clear what that conversation entailed, but the superintendent said it was not related to academic standards.
Superintendent Jeff Saylor released the following statement:
“A lot of this conversation centered on the statement, ‘You are free to be yourself.’ As superintendent, my issue has not been with this statement because we have to meet the needs of all of our students and families.
The issue at hand is the conversations that took place during class. I firmly believe that students and their parents expect teachers to teach content about their assigned curriculum in a subject area.
Of course, there are times that conversations may vary from that day’s lesson plan, but these conversations went far beyond the music curriculum. It is my job to make sure that parents are not surprised by these types of situations.”
The Fairness Campaign, an organization that advocates against gender discrimination, feels the district mishandled the situation.
Chris Hartman, member of the Fairness Campaign, said talking about LGBTQ issues in the classroom could help students who may be struggling.
Chris Hartman reportedly said:
“We know that the rates of suicide, self-harm, depression, and isolation among LGBTQ kids is astronomically high.”