<div dir="ltr">
<header class="gmail-article-header">
<h1 class="gmail-page-title">Texas teacher placed on leave days after requesting changes to district policy on LGBTQ language</h1> <div class="gmail-article-header-inner">
<span class="gmail-article-dates">
<time class="entry-date gmail-feed-time gmail-published" datetime="2018-03-08T15:58:24-05:00">Mar 8, 2018 3:58 pm</time>
</span>
</div>
</header>
<div class="gmail-article-image">
<figure><img src="https://www.theblaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/gettyimages-171995596-1280x720.jpg" class="gmail-img-responsive gmail-wp-post-image" alt="Texas teacher placed on leave days after requesting changes to district policy on LGBTQ language" width="1280" height="720"></figure>
<figcaption>A Texas teacher was placed on administrative leave
after she asked district officials to add LGBTQ language to the
district's policy. (Raul Arboleda/AFP/Getty Images) </figcaption>
</div>
<aside class="gmail-article-misc">
<a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/2018/03/08/texas-teacher-placed-on-leave-days-after-requesting-changes-to-district-policy-on-lgbtq-language#comments" title="55 comments" class="gmail-comments">55</a>
</aside>
<aside>
<div class="gmail-author-article-profile">
<a class="gmail-author-identity" href="https://www.theblaze.com/author/janapruet/">
<div class="gmail-avatar-wrap gmail-img-circle" style="background-image:url("https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/2869c02f60d0e3e47fd0f908754881cf?s=60\000026d=404\000026r=g");min-width:60px;width:60px;height:60px">
</div>
<div class="gmail-author-text">
<span class="gmail-author-name">Jana J. Pruet</span>
<span class="gmail-author-title">Sr. Staff Writer</span> </div>
</a>
<div class="gmail-article-goal gmail-Inform">
<div class="gmail-article-goal-text">
<span class="gmail-label">Article Goal</span>
<span class="gmail-value">Inform</span>
</div>
<i class="gmail-fa gmail-fa-newspaper-o gmail-article-goal-icon"></i>
</div>
</div>
</aside>
<aside class="gmail-article-sharing gmail-mb20">
<ul class="gmail-sharing-wrap gmail-children-4">
<li class="gmail-big-wrap"><a class="gmail-facebook gmail-block" href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/2018/03/08/texas-teacher-placed-on-leave-days-after-requesting-changes-to-district-policy-on-lgbtq-language#"><i class="gmail-fa gmail-fa-facebook"></i>Share</a></li>
<li class="gmail-big-wrap"><a class="gmail-twitter gmail-block" href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Texas%20teacher%20placed%20on%20leave%20days%20after%20requesting%20changes%20to%20district%20policy%20on%20LGBTQ%20language&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theblaze.com%2Fnews%2F2018%2F03%2F08%2Ftexas-teacher-placed-on-leave-days-after-requesting-changes-to-district-policy-on-lgbtq-language&via=theblaze"><i class="gmail-fa gmail-fa-twitter"></i>Tweet</a></li>
<li class="gmail-sm-wrap"><a class="email gmail-link-inverse gmail-block" href="mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20this%20story%20I%20found%20on%20TheBlaze!&body=Check%20out%20this%20story%20I%20found%20on%20TheBlaze:%0D%0A%0D%0ATexas teacher placed on leave days after requesting changes to district policy on LGBTQ language%0D%0Ahttps://www.theblaze.com/news/2018/03/08/texas-teacher-placed-on-leave-days-after-requesting-changes-to-district-policy-on-lgbtq-language/" title="Email this story"><i class="gmail-fa gmail-fa-envelope-o"></i></a></li>
<li class="gmail-sm-wrap"><a class="gmail-print gmail-link-inverse gmail-block" href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/2018/03/08/texas-teacher-placed-on-leave-days-after-requesting-changes-to-district-policy-on-lgbtq-language#" title="Print this story"><i class="gmail-fa gmail-fa-print"></i></a></li>
</ul>
</aside>
<div class="entry-content gmail-article-styles">
<p>A Texas school teacher was placed on administrative leave
with pay last fall after she requested that school officials modify
district policy to include LGBTQ language.</p>
<p>Stacy Bailey, an elementary art school teacher in Mansfield, Texas,
sent an email to the district’s assistant superintendent and some school
board members at the start of the school year asking to “begin a
conversation” that would include “sexual orientation, gender identity
and gender expression” in the district’s policy language, <a href="https://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/2018/03/07/popular-mansfield-teacher-suspended-after-asking-lgbtq-language-misd-policy" target="_blank">the Dallas Morning News reported</a>.</p>
<p>Last year, Bailey was named as “Teacher of the Year” at Charlotte
Anderson Elementary School, but the popular teacher has spent the
majority of this school year outside the classroom.</p>
<h3>What’s the story?</h3>
<p>On Sept. 7, Bailey emailed counselors at another school in the
district and asked if that school had a gay/straight alliance group.</p><div class="gmail-alignleft gmail-ad-wrap" id="gmail-in_content_ad"><div class="gmail-ad gmail-dart-ad gmail-midrec gmail-frequency-interval">
<div class="gmail-dfp-script"><div id="gmail-div-gpt-ad-In-Content_300x250_102" class="gmail-dfp_ad_container"><div id="gmail-google_ads_iframe_/75484061/TheBlaze.com/Stories/post_2__container__" style="border-color:currentcolor;border-style:none;border-width:0pt"></div></div></div>
</div>
</div>
<p>“I’m currently starting dialogue with the district to update our
discriminatory policy to include protection for LGBTQ students, families
and teachers,” Bailey’s email said, according. “I’m doing some research
on how/if MISD high school campuses supply support to their LGBTQ
students.”</p>
<p>She received a quick reply and was provided with information for the group and the name of its sponsor.</p>
<p>Bailey emailed the sponsor and stated she was working on a plan to
have LGBTQ language included in the district’s policy and that she would
soon be meeting with district officials about the idea.</p>
<p></p>
<p>The next day, Sept. 8, Bailey received notice from the district’s
associate superintendent, Kimberley Cantu, that she was being placed on
administrative leave with pay while the district completes an
investigation.</p>
<p>There was no reason for the district’s actions or basis for an investigation, according to documents, the Morning News reported.</p>
<p>Bailey was instructed to “make no contact with students, parents or
other staff members,” or to discuss her “administrative leave situation
with others.” She was also reportedly told not to access “school
technology, her office or department.”</p>
<p>Bailey’s attorney said that the teacher’s record ” has been exemplary.”</p>
<p>School officials have not gone on record about Bailey’s leave and the disciplinary action taken against her.</p>
<div class="gmail-art-story__content-wrapper">
<div class="gmail-art-story__text-wrapper gmail-row-m gmail-row-l gmail-row-xl">
<div class="gmail-art-story__text">
<p>The district said in a statement on Wednesday to the Morning News
that it “prohibits discrimination, including harassment, against any
employee on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, national origin,
disability or any other basis prohibited by law. In other words,
Mansfield ISD does not condone harassment or discrimination of any kind
toward anyone.”</p>
<p>The district has denied any discrimination against Bailey.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="gmail-art-story__content-wrapper">“Our current
anti-discrimination policy covers all employees, including the LGBT
community,” Donald Williams, associate superintendent of communications,
told the newspaper in a follow-up call. “That’s really the heart of
Mansfield ISD. We truly believe that and that is our position. We don’t
discriminate against any of employees.”</div>
<h3 class="gmail-art-story__content-wrapper">What else?</h3>
<div class="gmail-art-story__content-wrapper">Dozens of parents and students showed their support for Bailey at a recent school board meeting Feb. 28.</div>
<div class="gmail-art-story__content-wrapper"></div>
<div class="gmail-art-story__content-wrapper">Some carried signs that read, “I stand with Miss Bailey,” while others brought artwork they created in her class.</div>
<div class="gmail-art-story__content-wrapper"></div>
<div class="gmail-art-story__content-wrapper">Nothing has changed and Bailey remains on leave.</div>
</div>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
</div>