At a hearing Thursday to determine whether a Cobb County teacher should be fired after reading a book that challenges gender norms to elementary school students, much of the argument came down to whether the district’s rules on the subject are clear or vague.
One witness for the district said it was “very clear” that Katie Rinderle, who taught at Due West Elementary School, violated the district’s rules about introducing controversial topics in the classroom. But Rinderle and her attorney spent the day asking questions that highlighted potential gray areas in the rules, echoing what critics have said about new laws in Georgia about the same topics.
About 50 people filled the school district’s headquarters, in the room where the school board meets, all with their own feelings about the case that has drawn national attention. Rinderle is believed to be the first public school teacher in Georgia to face consequences under state laws passed last year that limit what teachers can talk about in the classroom.
Rinderle was put on administrative leave in the spring after some parents complained that she read students “My Shadow is Purple,” a book about a child who doesn’t feel like his shadow is blue or pink, without getting parents’ permission. She and her attorney, Craig Goodmark, emphasized that district rules state that teachers and principals “may” require written permission for content that “may be of a sensitive nature” — but doesn’t spell out exactly what’s sensitive or when it would be necessary.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Chris Dowd, the district’s executive director of employee relations and evaluation, said it was “very clear” that Rinderle violated the district’s rules about controversial issues. The policy echoes state law in saying that parents, based on a law passed last year, have the right to “direct the upbringing and the moral or religious training of their children.”
But later, Goodmark asked Dowd whether the dad’s blue shadow and the mom’s pink shadow in the book were controversial. Dowd said the book cumulatively was controversial. He said at the end of the book, when the child is dressed in traditionally female clothing on the bottom and traditionally male clothing on the top, that is controversial. Goodmark asked if it was controversial when singer Harry Styles wore a dress on the cover of Vogue magazine, but the hearing officer said that was outside the scope of the proceedings.
“We’ve gotta figure this out!” Goodmark said. “This is a policy that no one understands.”
Goodmark also suggested that Dowd’s previous employment history made him an unreliable judge on this topic. Dowd was previously a member of the Atlanta Police Department’s Red Dog unit, members of which were disciplined for the 2009 raid on the Atlanta Eagle, a Midtown gay bar. Dowd denied that he has any biases that would influence him on this subject.
In her own testimony, Rinderle avoided questions from the school district’s attorney, Sherry Culves, about whether topics relating to gender are “hot-button” political issues that create division in the community, or whether some parents may not want their children to learn about those topics in school.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Rinderle maintained that the book wasn’t about a sensitive topic in her professional judgment. She said she wasn’t trained on what exactly a “sensitive” or “controversial” topic is beyond what the policy states.
“No, I did not believe this book was a sensitive topic,” Rinderle said, later adding: “I used my professional judgment to deem it was appropriate.”
As of 5:15 p.m. on Thursday, the hearing was still taking place. Five witnesses had testified, including three parents of Rinderle’s students. The three parents said they felt like their children were introduced to topics they weren’t ready for. The hearing is scheduled to continue on Friday.
A panel of three tribunal members — all retired educators — will make a recommendation to the school board on whether or not to terminate Rinderle’s employment. The school board is expected to vote at its meeting next week.
