Teacher suspended over anti-gay Facebook comments

Mt. Dora High School's Teacher of the Year is suspended from his classroom position after making  a number of anti-gay posts on Facebook, saying he â┚¬Å”almost threw upâ┚¬Â after hearing about the decision to legalize same sex marriage in New York.

Jerry Buell is currently working in the district office, filling an administration role â┚¬Å”where he doesn't have contact with students,â┚¬Â according to Lake County Schools communications officer Chris Patton. Patton said Buell will remain there, while continuing to receive his regular salary, while the district's human resources department investigates the complaints against him.

According to an email received by Watermark and several other media outlets, Buell posts on July 25 called gay marriage a â┚¬Å”cesspoolâ┚¬Â and â┚¬Å”an insult to the marriage between my wife and I [sic].â┚¬Â Buell then continued to defend his anti-gay statements through religious justifications, saying they are â┚¬Å”based on Biblical principals [sic] and God’s law.â┚¬Â

The email was sent by Brett Winters, 27, a former Mt. Dora High School student.

â┚¬Å”The fact that the comments on his page receive more than 30 â┚¬Ëœlikes' is even more disturbing because it makes you wonder is this the behavior that Lake County approves of, especially since he was elected teacher of the year,â┚¬Â Winters said.

Buell has not returned calls from Watermark requesting an interview, but he told the Orlando Sentinel that he's â┚¬Å”had kids that I've known who have been homosexuals. They know that I don't hate them. I love them.â┚¬Â

In the meantime, Patton said it's uncertain how long the district's investigation of Buell will last.

â┚¬Å”It's hard to say because they'll do interviews and gather information,â┚¬Â he said. â┚¬Å”They won't just look at this instance; they'll look at the total picture to see if there are any other instances of this nature.â┚¬Â

Patton added that there is currently no GSA or any other LGBT-targeted youth groups at Mt. Dora High School, and the only support available for gay students is the counseling available to all students. However, the district developed social media guidelines this winter for teachers and staff, warning teachers against posting publicly online if they feel angry or passionate about a topic.

As of Aug. 18, at least two Facebook groups have been formed â┚¬â€œ one supporting Buell and another denouncing his statements. Buell's supporters generally have been defending his character and citing the posts as protected under free speech, while his detractors cite concern that Buell's hateful speech will send a message to his other students, even if they aren't in his classroom at that time.