Teacher suspended after showing students photo of wife files suit

A Texas teacher who was suspended after showing her students a picture of her wife is suing the school district for discrimination.

Stacy Bailey, a former art teacher at Charlotte Anderson Elementary School in Arlington, alleges in the suit filed Tuesday that the Mansfield Independent School District and two employees discriminated against her because she’s gay.

Bailey was fighting to have her job back after her suspension in September. It started when a parent complained to the principal that Bailey was promoting a “homosexual agenda” and was talking about her “future wife,” the suit says.

The complaint names MISD Superintendent Jim Vaszauskas and Kimberly Cantu, the associate superintendent of human resources.

Cantu met with Bailey on Aug. 25 and told her, “You can’t promote your lifestyle in the classroom.”

“We plan to get married. When I have a wife, I should be able to say this is my wife without fear of harassment,” Bailey replied.

She then emailed the school district requesting a policy change to protect LGBT employees. The parent complained again in September before Bailey was placed on leave, according to the suit.

Bailey married her then-fiancée in March.

Students and parents rallied against the school district saying Bailey was good at her job and should be brought back to the school, the suit says.

Last Tuesday, Vaszauskas informed Bailey she was being transferred to a high school instead of returning to the elementary school.

“Mansfield ISD reassigned Bailey to teach in a secondary school, sending the message that it believed LGBT teachers were not acceptable to teach elementary students,” a statement on Bailey’s behalf says.

The school district maintains Bailey discussed “her sexual orientation with elementary-aged students” and “refused to follow administration’s directions regarding age-appropriate conversations with students.”