Land O' Lakes High Teacher Fired for Looking at Students' Group Facebook Page
Angelica Cruikshank has been suspended since February.
The Pasco County School Board voted Tuesday to uphold the superintendent's recommendation to fire Land O' Lakes High spanish teacher Angelica Cruikshank.
Cruikshank was suspended in February after parents complained that she had improperly gained access to a student-created Facebook group page to see if they had said anything negative about her or other students.
Cruikshank said the page, which was a "secret group" page on the social network site, was brought to her attention by a concerned student. Cruikshank did not look at the personal pages of the students, just the group page, she said.
An appeal was held in July. The board's decision was delayed to allow time for the lengthy hearing transcripts to be reviewed by all parties.
"In reviewing the documentation and the testimonies of the students and the teachers, the one thing that really stood out in my mind is that the teacher is a professional, and needs to act like a professional and needs to act like the professional in the room," board vice chairwoman Cynthia Armstrong said.
“I don’t think that happened,” she said.
Board chairwoman Joanne Hurley agreed.
"I didn’t feel the employee’s testimony was sufficient to change my mind," Hurley said.
The decision to uphold the superintendent's recommendation for termination was unanimous.
"I have been teaching for eight years and nothing like this has ever happened," Cruikshank said Wednesday. "I loved those kids, I loved being in the classroom."
Cruikshank said she, along with a concerned student, brought the Facebook page to the school administrator's attention a week before she was suspended.
She was trying to do the right thing in the situation, but the incident doesn't define her, she said.
"Who I am is not what happened in the building that day when I was trying to do my best," Cruikshank said.
"All I want is to teach and make a difference," Cruikshank said. "From now we'll see where God takes me."
concerned parent
12:17 pm on Wednesday, September 19, 2012
My son was in her class last year and this doesn't even cover all of the inappropriate behavior this so called teacher displayed. She was the moat unprofessional teacher I have ever encountered and it is a shame that she does not take responsibility for her actions.
123
2:46 pm on Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Don't listen from your son's point of view.
Lori McCandrew
2:15 pm on Friday, September 21, 2012
It is never a good idea for a teacher to be on a student's facebook page, it's just pure and simple common sense. Don't know the teacher in question but I would like to see the county make it a rule. Some teachers are friends with students who are not even legally supposed to be on facebook and for that the parents are to blame. Social media is great but there is a reason for the age limits.
Tom Mavor
9:42 am on Saturday, September 22, 2012
the next time a child dies because they were bullied on Facebook i guess we can say with certainty that the teacher should not know what is happening because you fire a teacher if she cares enough to look at the offending material. we live in a world where wrong is right. it is never the child's fault it is always the teacher. you get what you deserve. She is not a perfect person but she cared more for your kids than she should have. With teen suicide from cyber bullying at an all time high, it seems their privacy is more important than their life. by the way this teacher was teacher of the year, so i would take any opinion to the contrary with a grain of salt
anonymous
9:21 am on Wednesday, September 26, 2012
She wasn't concerned about the students she was concerned about what students were saying about her.
Pasco
12:34 pm on Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Anonymous how do you know? Do you know her? From where? The fact is that she got fired over assumptions made up by the students. Lolhs are racist, count how many Hispanic or African Americans are staff personnel. The school system of Pasco is full of prejudice and that is he bottom line. They kept the Dog Collar teacher, rather than the teacher that reported bullying. Good job School Board, you should all get fired for violating Whisleblower laws. I the Union doesn't step in and advocate this, I am sorry to say, but teachers in Pasco are doomed.
123
4:04 pm on Tuesday, October 2, 2012
This is not about the facebook privacy being violated. Bullying and exam cheating are major no nos in the educational environment. Some of the LOLHS Class of 2015 students should have received a traditional punishing regiment. LOLHS is teaching our students that it's ok to cheat and disrespect one selves, teacher and their classmates.
Ms. Cruikshank's incident indicate the degree of corruption in our school board.
Kathy Lambert
2:34 pm on Thursday, October 4, 2012
I believe the Board is more uninformed and untrained in logical thinking than they are corrupt. I will do my darndest to teach them to think in non political ways. Their penchant to avoid controversy by making a quick dust under the rug is no substitute for real justice. The only way the full Board would be removed if a class action suit filed in Federal Court would win a case that the Board does not fulfill the requirements of providing equal educational opportunity, because they refuse to fix policy and will not provide textbooks to the students whose teachers have begged for them on their students' behalf. Hopefully, this will not have to happen. Whether it is Kurt Browning or Kathy Lambert, a fresh insight is necessary for this Board to fully understand the legal obligations of the job they have sworn an oath to perform.
Kat Lambert