Trish Johnson
Festus Middle School teacher Trish Johnson said she is losing her job because she has supported LGBTQ students’ rights by allowing a student to display artwork in her class featuring a gay pride flag, allowing a student to talk in class about not being straight and allowing other students to take a “5 Love Languages” quiz.
“The 5 Love Languages” books, written by Gary Chapman, deal with relationships, from youngsters to adults.
According to a petition that supports Johnson, that quiz “is routinely given to younger students elsewhere in the district.”
On Monday, March 21, Johnson said she was informed her contract with the district was not going to be renewed for the next school year.
Johnson, 47, has been a full-time teacher at Festus Middle School for five years, teaching seventh-grade academic success and seventh-eighth grade literacy. Prior to taking the full-time teaching job, she was a substitute teacher for 12 years and had volunteered with the district.
After Johnson learned her contract was not going to be renewed, her daughter, Sydney Johnson, started the online petition called “Support Mrs. Johnson and LGBTQ+ students at Festus R-VI Middle School.”
The change.org petition calls for Johnson to be rehired and for the school district to “create a plan to ensure LGBTQ+ students and their rights are protected at (Festus R-6),” including diversity and inclusion training for all employees.
As of Tuesday morning, March 22, more than 4,300 people had signed the petition, which claims Festus School District administrators have discriminated against LGBTQ+ students and against Johnson for supporting those students’ rights.
Also, the petition says district administrators have spread false information about Johnson to discredit her.
The Festus R-6 administration responded by issuing a written statement that says, “privacy laws prevent the district from speaking directly to the matter, other than to say the information in the petition is not accurate.”
The press release further states the district “expects all employees to meet performance standards. For certified teachers, the standards include those set forth by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. When any individual standards are not met, efforts are made to address those areas and work collaboratively with the employees to improve. It is disheartening when someone chooses instead to distribute a false narrative to discredit others.”
Johnson objected to the written statement.
“It is disheartening that the district insists on claiming that I am spreading a false narrative when, in reality, they are attempting to turn the narrative to favor themselves,” she said. “Everything stated in the petition is absolutely true and can be supported by documentation and witnesses.
“The district implies that they are letting me go due to an inability to meet performance standards. As part of the disciplinary action taken against me for displaying student work containing a pride flag and allowing a student to state that they are not straight, I was required to turn in lesson plans to (Festus Middle School Principal Jacob Munoz) in advance of each week. Of the 25 weeks I have been required to turn in my lesson plans, I have never received feedback on them.”
Johnson said the information included with the online petition accurately presents her side of the story.
The petition, in part, states that a parent complained to district administration, claiming Johnson “had a project hanging in her classroom depicting two females in bed kissing.”
According to the petition, that claim was not true, but Munoz “took action against” Johnson, disciplining her for “hanging student work that contained a small pride flag.”
Munoz didn’t return a call for comment.
“In subsequent meetings (with Johnson), Mr. Munoz himself admitted that he was imposing his own religious views on certain students’ right to expression because he stated that as a conservative Christian he could not allow support for LGBTQ students in his school,” the petition says.
In addition, the petition states that Munoz compared a pride flag to a swastika or rebel flag.
The petition says Johnson complained about Munoz to district administrators, but they did not launch an investigation into the matter, so Johnson, along with her union representatives, signed grievances against the school district.
Johnson also took an appeal to the Board of Education and “cited instances of discrimination, numerous broken (Festus school board) policies and broken federal laws,” according to the petition.
The petition says the board denied Johnson’s appeal and sent her a letter that “rivaled Mr. Munoz’s in its attacks on her character.”
Johnson said she will continue teaching for the rest of the school year and does not know what her next career move will be.
“I am going to school every day and doing what I have always done, giving my all to my students,” Johnson said. “I probably will seek a job somewhere. I don’t know if it will be in education.”
She said that while the district administrators have turned a cold shoulder to her, she has found support within her school building.
“Administration has not spoken to me this entire time,” Johnson said. “Teachers and students have been overwhelmingly supportive.”
She said she has not decided if she will take legal action against the district.
“It’s been going on for six months and it just slapped me in the face last week,” Johnson said.