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Transgender teacher has parents upset
Filed under: Big Kids, Tweens, In The News, Day Care & Education
When school started this year, it probably didn't take long for students at Foxboro Elementary School to notice that there was something familiar about their new music teacher. He looked a lot like their old music teacher, except for the fact that the old teacher was a woman and the new one a man. Because they shared the same last name, perhaps they assumed the two were brother and sister. But the truth is that thanks to gender reassignment surgery over the summer, Miss Music Teacher and Mister Music Teacher are one and the same.I imagine Mister Music Teacher somehow explained the situation to his curious students, but the school didn't bother explaining it to the parents. Which, as you can imagine, has them very freaked out. "All the information came straight from our kids and didn't come from the school board or the teachers ... this has all been second-hand information," parent Melissa Oiland said.
School officials explain that they have an obligation to respect the privacy of their employees and disclosing this information to parents would have violated HIPPA rules governing the security and privacy of health data. They probably wanted to avoid the freaked out parent situation, but school lawyers told them they couldn't.
But now that the cat is out of the bag, angry parents are pulling their kids from Mister Music Teacher's class. And not just a few - 23 students from 15 families have transferred out.
I can certainly understand why parents would be angry that they were not given the opportunity to be the one to explain gender reassignment to their kids. But it does seem like the school's hands were tied on the matter and there is nothing they could have done different. Perhaps the responsible thing to do would have been for Mister Music Teacher to voluntarily share the news with parents so they wouldn't have to hear it from their kids. It's not like you can keep gender reassignment a secret anyway.
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
10-17-2008 @ 3:23PM
Reese said...We are now at a point in our society where this is the norm. I am a mother of a 4 year old boy and I explain to him, appropriately, of what things are even though it may be uncomfortable. Children notice more than adults do and they should not be left out in the dark and ignorant. If this was a teacher at my school, I would actually encourage more parents to enroll their children.
There were and will always be transgender, gay, lesbian and "different" people. If that makes them happy and they are comfortable with who they are, why can't we try to understand them at the least and try to accept them. They are equals regardless. Why can't children learn it from their parents instead of on the streets? I say good for this teacher for doing what she needed to be happy.
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10-17-2008 @ 2:48PM
jill said...These articles are so generic. Where is this happening? And why don't we read about this anywhere else?
As to this particular article, the school would be perfectly entitled to reassign the teacher to another campus so as to avoid confusion and questions from kids who are really too young to understand this unfortunate situation.
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10-17-2008 @ 7:20PM
ame s said..."Like it" or not, transgenders, gays and lesbians are a part of everyone's lives nowadays and there are laws to protect them just as there are laws to protect us heteros. I know there are people out there who believe it should still be allowable to assault, fire, riducule people who are different than "us". I personally am glad it is no longer acceptable and allowable to just ship "them" off somewhere where the rest of "us" don't have to see them or interact with them. Anyone with a problem with "them" has the right to isolate themselves, though.
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10-17-2008 @ 5:36PM
Amanda said...Why should he have to tell any of the parents? It's not their business. People get boob jobs, and nose jobs, tummy tucks, and face lifts and they don't have to tell anyone. And it's not like they can "keep that a secret" for long either.
If people would be more open minded then this wouldn't have to be an issue.
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10-18-2008 @ 12:59PM
Joyce Buckley said...This caring teacher should have transferred to another school if he/she was truly sincere about teaching children and not obsessed, tee hee, with her wonderous sex change. We can change sex back and forth and marry the same sex and bring forth broods without marriage. What a wonderful World. What next, I can hardly wait.
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10-18-2008 @ 9:24PM
isisaquaria said...It is the teachers choice, but given the nature of the job and the proximity to children who may have questions-- the parents should be notified so the discussion can be handled the way they choose.
Shame on the teaher for not being more considerate of a parent's right to raise the children as they see fit, and in this case--it does.
I guess public schools can not really do anything about it, again thankful for alternatives for my childrens education.
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10-19-2008 @ 4:04PM
pamela said...everyone is entitled to their opinion , and this is mine, i am apsolutly disgusted by this. i would take my kid out of that music class, and to amanda, it is our buisness when our kid goes to a class that the teacher was male last month then female the next, it's alot more than someone just getting a boob job, there is not one bit of comparason there.men should leave the dresses at home and stop confusing little children.
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