Dublin teacher removed from classroom after talking politics

DUBLIN, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – A Dublin Middle School teacher was removed from the classroom after sharing an inappropriate political opinion with her students.

In a letter, Dublin City Schools Superintendent Dr. Chuck Ledbetter apologized to the student and his parents who brought forward the complaint.

“It is not the place of teachers to attempt to persuade students about religious or political beliefs. In doing so, the teacher was wrong and that has been communicated to her,” Ledbetter said.

In February, the Dublin-Laurens NAACP claims Nancy Perry told her students President Obama is not a Christian and “any parent who supports him is not a Christian.” She also challenged her students to “prove their Christianity.”

The superintendent’s letter states “the teacher has been removed from the classroom at Dublin Middle School for the remainder of the year, after which she is retiring. Just as importantly, we are communicating this message to all staff of the School District.”

Ledbetter’s letter also clearly states school board members are not allowed to attend parent-teacher meetings. The Georgia NAACP claims Perry’s husband, who is a school board member, attended a parent-teacher conference after the parent of one of her students complained about her comments. The group believes he was there to intimidate the parents who complained about the teacher’s comments.

The parent who complained, Jimmie Scott, addressed the board Monday night. He says Perry wrote an apology letter. He believes he should have gotten an apology months ago when the incident happened.

“It should have happened back in February instead of denying it,” Scott said. “It does seem coerced and seem forced, but it is accepted.”

Mary Howard, the president of the Dublin-Laurens NAACP, says the group is not satisfied with how the district handled the situation.

41NBC has not reported the name of the school board member who sat in on the parent-teacher conference. The board’s chairman Rev. Richard Sheffield tells us Bill Perry was suppose to make an apology during Monday’s board meeting, but he did not.

“As regrettable as this incident is, we believe that we can build from it to make an even better school system for all of our children,” Ledbetter said in the letter.

Ledbetter says teachers and staff will go through diversity training in July. He adds the training will be ongoing and every year.

During the meeting, the board reaffirmed its commitment to abide by the Code of Ethics which states,

“I make a motion that we as a Board and each individual member reaffirm our commitment to abide by the Code of Ethics adopted by this board, to support the delegation of authority for the day-to-day administration of the Superintendent and principal, to refrain from using the position of Bard member for personal gain or partisan gain or to benefit any person over the interests of the School District, to take no private action that will compromise the Board or the District, and to comply with all conflicts of interest policies.”