Lesbian elementary school teacher is put on leave after playing a slide show in class which included photos of her wife and 'discussing her sexual orientation with students' (4 Pics)

 A Mansfield ISD elementary school art teacher was suspended after the district received complaints from parents about her discussing her sexual orientation with elementary-aged students, district officials said Tuesday afternoon.

Stacy Bailey, an art teacher at Charlotte Anderson Elementary, has been suspended with pay since September. MISD said in an emailed statement Tuesday afternoon it is their “general rule not to comment on employee personnel matters” but misinformation about Bailey’s personnel matter "has created disruption to the Charlotte Anderson Elementary School educational environment.”

 The statement said Bailey was not suspended over her request to include LGBTQ language in the district’s nondiscrimation policy, but rather due to the district’s concern that Bailey “insists that it is her right and that it is age appropriate for her to have ongoing discussions with elementary-aged students about her own sexual orientation, the sexual orientation of artists, and their relationships with other gay artists.”

In the statement the district contended that “parents have the right to control the conversation with their children, especially as it relates to religion, politics, sex/sexual orientation, etc.”

The statement later says that MISD administrators met with Bailey more than once after receiving complaints from parents but that “Ms. Bailey refused to follow administration’s directions regarding age-appropriate conversation with students.”

Bailey, 31, has declined to comment on her status. 

But her attorney, Giana Ortiz, pushed back Tuesday evening against the district's position in a statement emailed to The Dallas Morning News.

"For Stacy, this entire ordeal began when she spoke with the students about her family which, for Stacy, included her wife," the statement said. "The District appears to speak for Stacy when it states that she 'insists it is her right and that it is age appropriate' to discuss matters including ongoing discussions about her own sexuality. This is absolutely false. Further, she never received directives to change her behavior--and never refused to follow any directive."

Ortiz's statement goes on the say that MISD is trying to "silence the families and staff at Charlotte Anderson" who have tried to get the district to reinstate the teacher. "The fact is that she was placed on leave after years of exemplary work based on a single parent complaint." 

Ortiz said that she was also "shocked by the school district's decision to speak openly about a personnel matter -- Stacy's administrative leave -- in spite of its legal obligations of confidentiality. The District's actions violate Stacy's rights under the U.S. Constitution."

Meanwhile, nearly three dozen people, including Bailey’s wife, father and sister, showed up in support of Bailey at Tuesday night’s meeting. About eight of those spoke to the board asking them to either include LGBTQ-inclusive language in the district’s anti-discrimination policy or for answers regarding Bailey’s departure.

Kain Hendrix, a third-grader at Charlotte Anderson, told board members he was sad Bailey was no longer his art teacher, and said Bailey's suspension was unfair to the school's families, students and to Bailey. 

“Ms. Bailey was my teacher, my role model and someone who always cheered me up,” said Hendrix, 9. “Every time I go to art it is not the same.”

Jennifer Kureska, a Charlotte Anderson parent who also works at the school as a receptionist, said she was unaware of Bailey ever having shared anything that was out of line with her students.

“I have seen Ms. Bailey teach and even read some of her lessons before, and never have I seen anything inappropriate,” Kureska said. “My daughters learned about Ms. Bailey’s family. They saw photos of them during her introduction. They learned about various artists. Not once did they ever say the conversation made them wonder about a gay lifestyle.”

Julie Vazquez, Bailey’s wife, told The News after the meeting she was thankful for everyone who had come to the meeting to support her wife.

“It is so appreciated, and it shows how the family Charlotte Anderson Elementary is,” Vazquez said. “They support each other, they love each other and are there for each other.”

The text messages

Text messages between MISD officials in August show they were concerned about comments made by Bailey, who had previously told her students that “she had a girl friend.”

In an Aug. 23 text message obtained by The News, Charlotte Anderson principal Sheira Petty informed a staffer identified only as “Donna,” that she had forwarded an email to her from an unidentified parent that the parent had sent to MISD Superintendent Jim Vaszauskas and the school board.

Petty’s text did not identify the parent or give details of the email’s contents.

After reading the forwarded email, “Donna” texted Petty back and asked if “something similar has occurred in past years?"

Petty responded: “Not to his (sic) extent. She has said she had a girl friend and she showed a slide show of her friends that included girlfriend.”

Petty continued her response writing: “In talking with HR it was always determined I was NOT to tell her she can’t say certain things. To my knowledge, she has never gone to this extent.”

“Donna” then advised Petty to call MISD Associate Superintendent Kim Cantu the next morning “for guidance” and said that she would advise Dr. Vaszauskas that they would ask human resources “how best to handle the parent’s concern, employee’s rights, & appropriate administrative action.”

Petty responded that she had emailed the complaining parent to tell him that she would look into his concerns. She added that the superintendent and the school board were copied on the email back to the parent.

The suspension

Records show Cantu sent Bailey a letter dated Sept. 8 notifying her that the district was placing the popular teacher on administrative leave with pay “until an investigation is completed.” The letter gave no reason for the suspension.

The letter came a day after Bailey had emailed two counselors at Ben Barber Innovation Academy asking if that school had a gay/straight alliance group so she could connect with the faculty members who organized the group. The email was the second such communication from Bailey, who sent a similar email to district officials on Aug. 25.

In MISD’s statement Tuesday, the district denied that Bailey’s suspension was connected to her request.

“Again, this situation is not about Ms. Bailey’s inquiries regarding the District’s nondiscrimination policies,” the statement says. “Rather, it is a matter of parents having certain rights pertaining to the topics to which their children are exposed and the District’s right and responsibility to ensure age-appropriate instruction.”