Embattled art teacher Stacy Bailey is starting a new academic year at Mansfield’s Lake Ridge High School — almost a year after she was placed on administrative leave following complaints from parents about her sexual orientation.
Bailey, who filed a federal discrimination lawsuit against Mansfield schools earlier this year, has reported for work at Lake Ridge on Monday. Mansfield’s school year begins on Aug. 15.
Bailey’s attorney, Jason Smith, said Bailey will be dealing with a much larger number of students at Lake Ridge than she did as an elementary school teacher.
“Stacy’s new position comes with a much greater workload and learning curve given her only experience has been with elementary school students,” Smith said.
Switching to a larger classroom size was intended to frustrate Bailey and encourage her to resign, Smith said.
The school district stated that it had concluded its internal investigation and that she reported for work this week along with all the other teachers in the district. She’ll be teaching art in grades 9 through 12.
Her attorney insists the district’s investigation was largely for show.
“I guess our response is, ‘what investigation,’” Smith said. “They really didn’t conduct an investigation during the entire eight months out of the classroom.”
Bailey’s case drew national attention as her supporters asked Mansfield school district leaders why she was no longer teaching at Charlotte Anderson Elementary School, a Mansfield district school that’s located in Arlington. She was on paid administrative leave most of last year. The federal lawsuit is pending.
