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MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCSC) - A member of the Charleston County School Board who has faced calls to step down from the school board has addressed what he said about a teacher who reportedly told students she is transgender.
Ed Kelley said a parent reached out to him after the parent’s child came home from school upset after a female teacher announced she was transgender and would soon use male pronouns rather than female.
In his statement, Kelley called that “totally wrong on a variety of levels.”
“It is not within a teacher’s unilateral discretion to make statements about personal sexual choices to children without consulting school officials including the superintendent and principal (who in turn have a moral imperative to engage with parents),” Kelley said in the statement. “In my opinion, this teacher demonstrated poor judgment with no consideration of the emotional impact or confusion forced upon these young, impressionable children. This teacher should have talked with school and district administrators, healthcare professionals and other properly trained experts before dropping something so sensitive and confusing on such young children.”
He also addressed a comment he was accused of making at a meeting with the group Moms for Liberty. He says the comment attributed to him “by a single voice, contrary to the statements of many others present,” was not what he said.
“What I actually said was, ‘Given how understandably agitated he was, I applaud this father for making the right choice to write an email instead of pick up a gun,’” Kelley said. “He expressed his concerns about this subject matter being discussed in a fourth-grade class and how inappropriate such a conversation is in the classroom. I fully agree with this father, whose child was robbed of their innocence by someone they should have been able to trust. All students and educators must have a safe and stable learning environment.”
Tara Wood, the Charleston County Chapter Chair of Moms for Liberty, also issued a statement Monday morning on the controversy, saying that during a recent monthly meeting of the group, the issue of “a female teacher notifying her elementary school students of her plans to be dressed and referred to as a man the next time they would be back together was discussed.”
“Mr. Kelley had conveyed an email from a concerned parent regarding this subject matter,” Wood said. “Mr. Kelley stated that he was glad the parent did not pick up a gun, but instead expressed his concerns in an email wanting answers. We applaud this parent for reaching out to a school board member and we also applaud Mr. Kelley and his involvement for finding out more information in an effort to respond directly to this concerned parent. Mr. Kelley not only supported this parent and his child, but he asked the right questions so this father knew the facts.”
Wood encouraged parents to “really think about what happened and asked what would you do?”
“Your elementary school child comes home in tears and just learned their female teacher that they’ve known from the beginning of the school year will return as a male teacher,” Wood said. “Why would a teacher do this without any consideration to these innocent young children? We need more elected officials like Mr. Kelley who stand up for parents, students, taxpayers and supportive stakeholders and that do not fold under the pressure of special interest groups but do the right thing!”
The statements come in response to the controversy that came to light during a school board meeting on March 27, when a member of the public who said she attended the Moms for Liberty meeting described the comment she claimed to have heard Kelley make.
The speaker was initially interrupted when she mentioned Kelley by name and was told that it was against policy to do so. She then described the remark without naming Kelley.
“A board member who shall not be named applauded the parent for coming to speak to him because the board member said that if his child said this, that the board member would have shown up at the teacher’s house with a gun,” she said. “The board member then recalled how he threatened to immediately fire the superintendent if the teacher showed up at the school the following Monday.”
The speaker claimed Kelley then “boasted that this trans teacher had been put on unpaid administrative leave.”
“This board member knowingly shared confidential personal information about an ongoing personnel issue essentially threatened to threaten a teacher with a gun and unjustifiably threatened the superintendent’s job because of his bigoted and transphobic views,” she said.
The Charleston County School District issued its own statement on the controversy on Friday through spokesman Andy Pruitt:
We want to be clear. The Charleston County School District is an equal opportunity employer that does not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age or any other applicable status protected by federal or state law. We welcome all qualified candidates and employees.
Currently, a staff member is on administrative leave as we look into a personnel matter. This decision is not punitive, as we often place employees on administrative leave while we gather all the facts.
The statement did not identify the staff member in question or provide further details.
Here is Kelley’s full statement provided Monday morning:
One of the reasons I ran for Charleston County School Board is I felt, like many parents, that our voices were not being heard regarding what is in the best interest of our children and the curriculum that is being taught in our schools. I support parents’ choice, that students come first, and we must support those teachers who want all our students to succeed.
I had a parent reach out to me to express his concerns after his fourth-grade child returned home from school distraught, in tears, totally confused and upset when their female teacher said to all the students, “Today I am a Miss, but tomorrow I will be a Mr.,” and that she started having the thoughts that she was a boy starting in second grade. Subsequently, I was informed this same teacher had a similar conversation with her fifth-grade students as well.
Let me be perfectly clear, this is totally wrong on a variety of levels. It is not within a teacher’s unilateral discretion to make statements about personal sexual choices to children without consulting school officials including the superintendent and principal (who in turn have a moral imperative to engage with parents). In my opinion, this teacher demonstrated poor judgment with no consideration of the emotional impact or confusion forced upon these young, impressionable children. This teacher should have talked with school and district administrators, healthcare professionals and other properly trained experts before dropping something so sensitive and confusing on such young children.
During a recent meeting hosted by the group “Moms for Liberty” this issue was brought up and discussed. My comments during that meeting have falsely been presented to the media by a single voice, contrary to the statements of many others present, yet the media have chosen to write on this subject matter. What I actually said was, “Given how understandably agitated he was, I applaud this father for making the right choice to write an email instead of pick up a gun.” He expressed his concerns about this subject matter being discussed in a fourth-grade class and how inappropriate such a conversation is in the classroom. I fully agree with this father, whose child was robbed of their innocence by someone they should have been able to trust. All students and educators must have a safe and stable learning environment.
I will always stand up for our student’s right to be kids and a parent’s right to parent. I will always support those teachers who work very hard every day, teaching our children, for the benefit of our kids. I agree with those who say what this teacher did was disruptive & destabilizing to the learning process and negatively impacted young children.
I will continue to serve and defend parents, students, and those teachers who truly have our students’ best interests at heart.
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