Teacher suspended for her 'homosexual agenda,' her lawyer claims

A beloved Texas elementary school teacher was suspended for having "ongoing discussions" with students about her sexual orientation, the school district said.

However, Stacy Bailey's lawyers dispute the claim that the Charlotte Anderson Elementary School art teacher "refused to follow administration's directions" regarding "age-appropriate" conversations with her students.

Jason Smith told the Daily News on Wednesday that Bailey was banned — with pay — in September after one parent criticized the two-time Teacher of the Year at the school.

"A parent complained that she was advancing the homoesexual agenda by referencing her now-wife to her students," Smith told the Daily News.

Giana Ortiz, another lawyer for Bailey, said that the 31-year-old teacher "never received directives to change her behavior — and never refused to follow any directive."

The suspension also came after Bailey asked for strong LGBT protections for staff and students. An online petition that was to be presented to the school board on Tuesday had reached the required 1,000 signatures.

"Currently, Mansfield ISD does not protect their LGBT employees and students under their nondiscrimination policy," read the petition. "If you agree that LGBT employees and students deserve to be treated as equals and to be protected under the policy please sign."

While some speculated this was connected to the suspension, the school district said in its statement that concerns about Bailey are not about "her request to have our nondiscrimination policies reviewed and/or revised with regard to LBTQ rights."

The district said that "misinformation" about her personnel matter created a "disruption" to the school educational environment.

Smith told The News that the school district's lengthy statement issued Tuesday was full of misinformation.

"The only reason why the Mansfield school district issued that statement with multiple falsehoods is they don't like the pressure that families are putting on the school to pring Bailey back, because she is a really good teacher," he tells The News.

Students and parents at the school are feeling the teacher's absence.

"Ms. Bailey was my teacher, my role model and someone who always cheered me up," third-grader Kain Hendrix tells the Dallas Morning News. "Every time I go to art it is not the same."

"I have seen Ms. Bailey teach and even read some of her lessons before, and never have I seen anything inappropriate," parent Jennifer Kureska, who works at the school, told the newspaper. "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."

If Bailey is fired at the end of the school year, Smith said he will take "appropriate action" to protect her rights under the constitution.