ABOVE: Casey Scott (Screenshot/ WBBH NBC 2)
CAPE CORAL, Fla. | Casey Scott, a pansexual Floridian, says she was fired from Trafalgar Middle School by Lee County Florida School District officials after discussing her sexuality when answering a student’s question.
In an interview with local NBC News affiliate WBBH News 2, Scott said that an art project by students drawing, coloring and creating flags expressing who they are led to the controversy.
That project led to a discussion centered on student sexuality. She pointed out that there were flags created by students, some of whom identified as non-binary, bisexual and gay. When asked by students about her identity she said that she told them she was married and pansexual.
Scott told NBC2 that she hung the pictures on her classroom door and that’s when school administrators reacted. “They said it would be in the best interest if I got rid of them now,” she said.
She snapped pictures showing how she got rid of them by placing them in a recycle bin.
“I went over to the recycling bin. I grabbed all their flags and all the kids were staring at me. And I crumbled their flags in front of them,” she explained.
She told the station that first she was sent home and then later informed by the Lee County School District her contract was terminated.
School District officials showed NBC 2 complaints from parents who were concerned about the conversation and the artwork. The district also released handwritten accounts from students which described they were allowed to draw any type of flag they chose even creating flags expressing who they are.
The Teachers Union of Lee County spokesperson Kevin Daly told the station that Scott could legally be fired and he confirmed she did not belong to the teachers union.
“During that probationary period they can let you go without cause,” Daly said.
Daly believes the firing could be a wake-up for all teachers when it comes to discussing LGBTQ issues.
“There is kind of a heightened state of where is the boundary? And what are employees supposed to do? Or allowed to do, when a topic comes up in discussion,” Daly said.
The Lee County School District action firing Scott took place just days before Governor Ron DeSantis signed Florida’s infamous “Don’t Say Gay or Trans” bill into law. But the school district has had a problematic relationship with its LGBTQ+ students previously.
In April of 2021, during a school board meeting as parents and students protested against a one-page flyer removed from schools that was outlining the rights of LGBTQ students, and the schools’ trans-inclusive bathroom policy, The Daily News reported.
The flyer stated that “all students are allowed to access the restrooms that are consistent with their gender identity or be provided appropriate accommodation as requested.”
As soon as the meeting started, a man who later identified himself as Ryan Monroe, stood up and started shouting, “No boys in the girls’ room.” His protest elicited applause from some in the room, but it also had him escorted out of the meeting by local law enforcement.
Outside of the board meeting anti-LGBTQ+ parents and supporters of their postion carried signs quoting the Bible (“Male and Female, Gen. 1:27”) or stating that the board’s “gender policy harms girls.”
Member of the LGBTQ+ community and their supporters — some wearing T-shirts that read “Equality” or “Protect” — held transgender and LGBTQ Pride flags.
During the meeting, local resident Crystal Czyscon, whose son is trans, told board members that, “to remove this poster now — after it has already been put into place and while it is being used as the standard — would have a very negative impact.” Czyscon said that the anti-transgender debate is already negatively affecting her son.
“He said to me, ‘You know mommy, I hope that college helps me believe in school again,’ because he’s so discouraged, he’s thinking about dropping out and playing video games.”
A year later Czyscon speaking to NBC 2 expressed concern for the mental health of the Trans and nonbinary students in Scott’s classes.
Czyscon believes that district officials made a mistake.
“I would like to see a statement from the school board recognizing they have to have a mental health counselor come in and speak with the children impacted by their actions toward this teacher,” Czyscon concluded.
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