CAPE CORAL, Fla. — A Cape Coral Middle School teacher claims she was fired because she spoke with her students about sexuality.
She says her art students then drew flag pictures expressing their own sexuality.
Mrs. Casey Scott said school leaders made her remove the drawings and throw them out.
However, the Lee County School District claims she was fired for not following the mandated curriculum.
“A discussion happened in class and because of that, now I’m fired,” Scott said.
That discussion centered on student sexuality. She pointed to flags she said were created by students, some of whom identified as non-binary, bisexual, and gay.
She claims students wondered about her and she revealed she was pansexual.
“I like anyone despite male, female, non-binary, transgender,” Scott said.
She is married to a man and she claims some students asked her if they could create art expressing their sexuality.
She hung the pictures on her classroom door and that’s when school personnel contacted her.
“They said it would be in the best interest if I got rid of them now,” she said.
She snapped pictures showing how she got rid of them by placing them in a recycle bin.
“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 explained.
She was sent home and then received a call from school administrators who informed her that she was being released from her contract.
She showed us social media posts from students upset over her firing.
However, the Lee School District showed us complaints from parents who were concerned about the conversation and the artwork.
The district also released handwritten accounts from students which described they were allowed to draw any type of flag they chose even creating flags expressing who they are.
The students also verified that Mrs. Scott revealed she was pansexual. A term understood by some students and left others confused.
Kevin Daly is with the Teachers Union of Lee County and explained that Scott could legally be fired and he confirmed she did not belong to the teachers union.
“During that probationary period they can let you go without cause,” Daly said.
Daly believes the firing could be a wake-up for all teachers when it comes to discussing LGBTQ issues.
“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,” Daly said.
Scott’s firing came days before Governor DeSantis signed a law that limits LGBTQ talk in age-appropriate settings.
Crystal Czyscon is an LGBTQ advocate and said her concern is for the mental health of the transgender nonbinary students who were in Mrs. Scott’s classes.
Czyscon believes the school district made a mistake.
“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 concluded.
