Art Teacher Fired For Showing Kids Actual Art

[Spike-X]

Art Teacher Loses Job After Kids See Nude Sculpture (http://www.nbc10.com/education/9936513/detail.html)


FRISCO, Texas -- An award-winning Texas art teacher who was reprimanded after one of her fifth-grade students saw a nude sculpture during a trip to a museum has lost her job.

What the hell is wrong with some people?!

[JerrBear81]

People are such prudes they can't separate sexual nudity from non-sexual nudity?

[Spike-X]

Or even actual nudity from an artistic depiction thereof, apparently.

[Valmore]

http://vcard.homer-simpson.de/images/marge/pic2.jpg

I'm not against "David" - it's a great work of art.

[JerrBear81]

Or even actual nudity from an artistic depiction thereof, apparently.

Didn't some politician want to cover the Statue of David's hot rod a few years back?

[darkkeeperjr]

Nude art!!!! OMG Think of the children!

[Ontir]

Texas, of course.

[Michael P]

http://vcard.homer-simpson.de/images/marge/pic2.jpg

I'm not against "David" - it's a great work of art.
It depicts parts of the human body that, practical though they may be, are evil!

[Michael P]

Suburban Dallas, of course.
Fixed it for you.

[ragnarok_2012]

It's a good thing she was fired.

That child was dangerously close to being left behind. :D

Man, is the whole educational system in the US twisted or what?

[Matt Algren]

I was just going to post that I thought there must be something more to this, but I decided to do a little digging and find out what that could be. Here's what I found. Links in the quotes.

07:38 AM CDT on Thursday, August 24, 2006 (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/city/collin/stories/DN-nakedcomplaint_24cco.ART0.North.Edition1.3e87f61.h tml)
By KAREN AYRES / The Dallas Morning News

FRISCO – A veteran Frisco art teacher says school administrators have retaliated against her because a student reportedly saw a nude sculpture during a field trip to the Dallas Museum of Art.

District officials say they are supporting a principal who reprimanded Sydney McGee over the field trip and other performance issues.

At Ms. McGee's request, the situation was aired in public during a school board meeting Monday. The school board rejected a request that would have allowed Ms. McGee to transfer to another school.

Ms. McGee told the board that the principal of Fisher Elementary School criticized her performance and threatened her job after a parent complained about the April field trip.

Ms. McGee's attorney, Daniel Ortiz, said she didn't receive any negative reports until shortly after the field trip. "This case is about censorship. ... It's about retaliation front and center," Mr. Ortiz told the board.

Ms. McGee, who has taught in various Texas districts for 28 years, said she visited the museum and spoke with museum staffers before the trip to ensure that it was appropriate for the fifth-grade class. Ms. McGee said she does not know which piece of art offended the parent, and the district did not identify it.

Ms. McGee said principal Nancy Lawson called her into a meeting the day after the trip to admonish her about the parent's complaint. Shortly thereafter, she received a negative review and a series of directives about displaying student artwork and creating lesson plans.

"You have to start somewhere when you've seen things you don't believe are in the best interest of the students," Superintendent Rick Reedy said.

In a memo to Ms. McGee, Ms. Lawson wrote that students were exposed to nude statues and other nude art representations during the trip. Ms. Lawson said she received complaints from parents and other teachers about the trip.

Ms. McGee said Monday that she was afraid of being fired. Ms. Lawson told the board that she planned to have Ms. McGee return to Fisher this fall. Ms. McGee said she sought to resolve the issue by requesting a transfer. "There was such hostility, I didn't feel like that was a good environment," she said.

That grievance and another transfer request were rejected by administrators. The school board unanimously upheld those decisions Monday night.

Some board members said it appeared that Ms. Lawson was trying to improve the art teacher's performance and should be allowed to do so. "It is a principal's job and their duty and responsibility to give directives to the people who work for them, and I don't want to circumvent that process," board president Buddy Minett said.

Board members said there were other performance issues in question beyond the trip complaint. But Ms. McGee and her attorney said there is a clear connection. "She made a great effort to see to it that the April 26 field trip was in fact a big success," Mr. Ortiz said. "Apparently one parent complained, and that changed Sydney's work."

[Matt Algren]

Part II of III

Now if she was such a horrible teacher (http://texased.wordpress.com/2006/09/26/this-is-why-we-have-lawsuits/), shouldn’t the board be looking at the administration of the school who was willing to accept her transfer? Doesn’t this show poor judgement on that prinicipal’s part by offering her the transfer? Oh that’s right, the board doesn’t want to stand in the way of principals running their schools no matter how arbitrary her actions may be. Remember, there was no written record of previous reprimands, whether she deserved them or not.

I see this as a case where the board realizes it screwed up by reacting to one over-zealous parent and is now trying to bury its mess as quickly as possible. I can’t say what kind of teacher McGee was before all of this and whether or not she deserved to be reprimanded. I do sincerely hope that she was smart enough to dot every i and cross every t these past six weeks and be able to sue the heck out of the district.

No, that’s not fair to all of the teachers and employees who are doing a great job for Frisco. But it would be doing them a service as well by letting the board know that they have to hold principals accountable for completing their duties as required. The principal tried to use a parent complaint as the basis to take action against a teacher. They refused to substantiate the complaint in any way that would allow the teacher to address the issue. And when it became clear that most people didn’t consider the complaint by itself worthy of discipline, all of a sudden the board hears about previous “verbal” reprimands and goes along with it.

I have said all along, this is not about whether or not McGee had work issues. It has to do with a principal and a board being able to discredit a teacher without adequate proof. The rules that the administration and board ignored are designed to protect all teachers. For those who say that by following the rules, the school may be keeping an ineffective teacher in the classroom and the students are the only ones who suffer, I would point out that the reason that the teacher is still there is because the administration didn’t do its job in the first place!

And if you think this is exactly the sort of thing that encourages law suit abuse, who’s fault is it? But it doesn’t really matter, does it? The board of Frisco ISD has decided to go ahead and pay the potential lawsuit costs (I know, I’m guessing here) to make the problem go away. In six months, no one is going to care about how much Frisco ISD paid to settle except the insurance company. If anyone really does care, they would do something about it at the next school board election.

[Matt Algren]

Part III of III

Here is what the FISD has to say on the issue: (http://texased.wordpress.com/2006/09/26/this-is-why-we-have-lawsuits/#comment-1695)

As you know you can’t always believe what you read and hear. A school district is at an extreme disadvantage in the area of personnel matters due to issues of employee privacy and ethical considerations.

However, since an employee of the district has chosen to express her concerns publicly in a hearing and in the media since that time, it seems fair that a school district can at least point to facts that were stated in that public hearing. Much has been misrepresented.

First, this is not about a field trip to an art museum. The timing of circumstances has allowed the teacher to wave that banner and it has played well in the media. FISD is a strong supporter of the arts and the Dallas Museum of Arts - our art program is rich and award-winning.

At issue here are performance concerns and the ability to supervise an employee. As early as May 2005 the principal verbally brought to the attention of the teacher that there were some performance concerns. She suggested at that time that a field trip experience might be a way to strengthen the art program. It was not mandated and no particular venue was recommended.
During the late spring of the next school year, 2005-2006, when the teacher began planning the field trip, the principal suggested that the field trip be delayed until the next school year because she was concerned that the planning process was not sufficient.
Then when the teacher received her evaluation conference, which was in mid May and after the field trip, some issues of concern were discussed and the teacher stated that she didn’t think it was fair to evaluate her on expectations that had not been clearly communicated to her in writing. Principals try to work through informal methods first to address performance concerns (verbal instructions, etc.) before documenting expectations. The principal did then document the performance areas that needed to be addressed - at the teacher’s request - but the documentation was not brought on by the field trip; the field trip was not a catalyst for anything or the final straw to get her in “hot water.”
After the memo was provided as requested, she did file a grievance and also asked to be transferred if there was an opening in the district. The transfer was denied because the central administration felt that if you allow a teacher to transfer after a supervisor has given them guidelines for improvement then you have weakened a supervisor’s ability to address performance issues by essentially giving the teacher an “escape hatch” to avoid meeting the expectations of the supervisor.
What is getting lost here is that this is not about a field trip, censorship, or a parent complaint. It is not about age, tenure or salary level as has also been suggested in the media. This is about a school administrator working to help an employee improve her job performance and to improve the educational experience of students. Even someone who has taught for a long time can still have opportunity for professional development.

As far as being an award-winning teacher or Star Award Teacher of the Year 2004, this is a recognition that took place periodically in the local paper because a local business wanted to sponsor the monthly ad to show support for teachers in the community - someone from each campus was usually represented. There was no set way employees were chosen at each campus for this ad. Some campuses went by tenure for inclusion, others were selected based on something that had occurred that month. Teachers were recognized, as were volunteers, custodians, receptionists, and others.

At this time, the teacher has been placed on administrative leave with pay. The Administration and the Board felt that this was the best action for the teacher, the students and the school. A recommendation for the non-renewal of her contract will be forthcoming from the superintendent.

This is the rest of the story or as much as would be prudent and appropriate to convey.

[Kid Omega]

So some pervert thought it would be funny to expose some children to images of genitals?

Good thing they fired her. If they let that slip, there's no telling what she'd try next!

[Slam_Bradley]

So some pervert thought it would be funny to expose some children to images of genitals?

Good thing they fired her. If they let that slip, there's no telling what she'd try next!


Exactly. It could lead to dancing.

[Novaya Havoc]

http://www.ibiblio.org/dlucas/images/image_helen.gif
PLEEEASE won't someone think of the children?!!?!!!!11


... Anyhoot. Thanks for posting that, Necktie. I smell a big whiff of bullshit from the school board. Why would you place an instructor on administrative leave if it was simply regarding her performance issues and a dispute with the principal? The obvious solution is to either fire her at the end of the academic year, or not renew her contract should she have one. Finito.

There was definitely a "catalyst." If it was simply a matter of procedure and policy with regard to authority, it would have been handled much differently.

-B

[Noah Johnson]

See, this is what we mean when we talk about a chilling effect. Right now there's an assumption that nutjob right-wingers have all the power in the country, so whereas in brighter times the principal and school board might have said "Oh boo hoo, your child accidentally saw some art, suck it up and deal", now there's a perception that these loons run everything, and one can't afford to antagonize them, no matter how full of crap they are.

[Valmore]

Exactly. It could lead to dancing.

Or even bowling!

[Jack Zodiac]

Exactly. It could lead to dancing.

For all we know, their music teacher could be letting them listen to... *gulp!* ...rock and/or roll!

This story depresses my balls off. And I have pretty sturdy balls.

[Gilda Dent]

This makes no sense. The school had perfect cover in the form of the permission slip. If they have a permission slip that says littly Suzy is going to Bob's Museum signed by Suzy's mother, there is nothing mom can do but complain, and parents complain all the time about piddly little stuff like this. Museums have artistic nudes. It would make about as much sense as complaining that suzy saw snakes at the zoo. Well, duh.

[Sam T.]

It's a good thing she was fired.

That child was dangerously close to being left behind. :D

Man, is the whole educational system in the US twisted or what?


Hey now, nothing wrong with Left-Handed people!!

[ragnarok_2012]

Hey now, nothing wrong with Left-Handed people!!

Left-handed people are an abomination and a mockery of God's plan!

*is also left-handed*

[Alex]

Weird, i went to a public school and we went on trips to art museums all the time.

[Noah Johnson]

Weird, i went to a public school and we went on trips to art museums all the time.
On behalf of the perception of Libruls Runnin' The Country that was prevalent at the time... you're welcome. :)

[Alex]

On behalf of the perception of Libruls Runnin' The Country that was prevalent at the time... you're welcome. :)
I think its more a regional thing, the midwest tends to not give a shit one way or the other.
It's why we remain consistantly swing state.

[Matt Algren]

I suppose if the parents were told that their kids were going to see the Neato Keen Dinosaur Babies exhibit and ended up seeing Donkey Dicks Through the Ages, I'd understand their problem. Still, though, that'd be an issue with the museum, not with the teacher.

I see problems with both sides of this. The school board is making the teacher out to be the devil, and she's trying to make herself out to be a saint. Neither side is painting a fair picture, though I would tend to side with the teacher on this one. Like Gilda said, they had permission slips (since we're referencing the Simpsons, "God bless the man who invented permission slips") parents complain all the time about stuff like this.

Then again, we are talking about a school board. Mark Twain said it over a hundred years ago, and it's still true now: "In the first place God made idiots; that was for practice; then he made school boards."

[Golon9977]

How are our future 18 year old porn stars and prostitutes supposed to start their career if they dont see nude art???

[Arrjay]

Well now.

That is phenomenally moronic.

[Charles RB]

The title of the thread is a bit misleading, since what the story appears to be is "Art teacher fired because a grand total of one annoying parent whined and the principal & school board, instead of showing any brains, decided to overreact and bow to the will of one person, thus showing they're such wimps even a jellyfish would taunt them for being spineless".

How much real power could that one parent have been able to wield if the school had told her to shove off?

[Golon9977]

How much real power could that one parent have been able to wield if the school had told her to shove off?
Depends on the lawyer they would have acquired.

[Spackling Compound]

How much real power could that one parent have been able to wield if the school had told her to shove off?

Remember that aide in DC who used the term "niggardly" (http://www.cnn.com/US/9902/04/dc.word.flap/) and was dismissed?

We are living in interesting times.

[Spike-X]

The title of the thread is a bit misleading, since what the story appears to be is "Art teacher fired because a grand total of one annoying parent whined and the principal & school board, instead of showing any brains, decided to overreact and bow to the will of one person, thus showing they're such wimps even a jellyfish would taunt them for being spineless".


I tried that, but it wouldn't fit in the space allotted.

[JeffreyWKramer]

I suppose if the parents were told that their kids were going to see the Neato Keen Dinosaur Babies exhibit and ended up seeing Donkey Dicks Through the Ages,

They should have waited for Neato-Keen Dino Dicks. Silly teacher!!