Who is the adult in this situation?
Cuz it sure ain't the teacher!
This story is wild and it takes us all the way back to a February board meeting in Tumwater, Washington.
Directors Darby Kaikkonen, Casey Taylor, and Ty Kuehl voted to support a resolution affirming that girls' athletics should be based on biological sex.
The consequences for those directors were swift and severe.
Director Kaikkonen was terminated from her OSPI job within days of the vote (covered here: Tumwater Board Director Fired from OSPI for Defending Female Sports).
A woman was fired from her Director of Student Information job at the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction! All because she argued for boys to not play girls' sports.
It gets worse. Casey Taylor, who also voted for female rights, would come to find out that a non-binary fifth-grade teacher had requested that his ten-year-old son not be placed in her class in the fall.
So Taylor filed a formal misconduct complaint; and it turns out, the non-binary teacher, Mx. Thornton, did speak with the principal about this.
Mx. Thornton told me they had talked to (the principal) about their concern regarding their safety with the placement of students with parents who do not support people who are nonbinary…their concern was that Mr. Taylor may have 'some transphobia' because he did not support transgender athletes. They also said they had requested a meeting with (the principal) to discuss developing a policy or practice to help mitigate the placement of students in their class who come from families that do not support LGBTQIA+ identities. They stated that their request was centered on their safety and an effort to prevent future harassment.
But even though this is obviously discrimination, it didn't matter.
This allegation is unsubstantiated because I could not substantiate that Mx. Thornton said they could not teach (student) because of different political views. Mx. Thornton did share her concerns with her peers and supervisors about not feeling safe and having possible negative parental interactions with the Taylors because of Mr. Taylor's action on the school board. Mx. Thornton's concerns were based on previous negative experiences with parents in general. Mx. Thornton indicated they were afraid that future parent teacher interactions with Mr. Taylor would be negative based on actions he had taken regarding transgender athletes while on the school board. Mx. Thornton did not go to the fourth-grade teachers to try and influence where (student) was ultimately placed for fifth grade, but the fourth-grade teachers were aware of the issue and opted not to place (student) in Mx. Thornton's class.
Don't forget, this is Washington we're talking about here. They're possibly the bluest state in the nation, and you can tell by the story so far that they're stuck in 2019 with their wokeness.
Taylor filed another complaint, as well as a tort claim for $1.15 million:
One of the female directors, when the board voted Taylor in as president this week, tried to claim "conflict of interest" because Taylor has filed the complaints against the same district whose school board he would preside over. That didn't hold up.
So now we wait and see if anything comes of this. It's Washington, so expect the bluest side to win out.
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