Art Teacher Axed Because Student Saw Nude Sculpture..in an Art Museum

Why am I not surprised this happened in Texas?

Teacher: Reprisals began after field trip

Frisco ISD: 5th-graders saw nude art; board supports principal


07:38 AM CDT on Thursday, August 24, 2006

By KAREN AYRES / The Dallas Morning News

FRISCO – A veteran Frisco art teacher says school administrators have retaliated against her because a student reportedly saw a nude sculpture during a field trip to the Dallas Museum of Art.

District officials say they are supporting a principal who reprimanded Sydney McGee over the field trip and other performance issues.

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Ms. McGee, who has taught in various Texas districts for 28 years, said she visited the museum and spoke with museum staffers before the trip to ensure that it was appropriate for the fifth-grade class. Ms. McGee said she does not know which piece of art offended the parent, and the district did not identify it.

Here's the article verifying Ms. McGee got the axe.

FRISCO, Texas Frisco school trustees aren't renewing the contract of a veteran art teacher who was reprimanded because a student saw a nude sculpture during a museum visit.

Sydney McGee has been on paid administrative leave from Fisher Elementary School since Friday.

McGee's contract runs through the end of the school year.

Board members declined to take questions after their closed meeting tonight. They have previously said there were concerns over McGee's performance.

Her attorney, Rogge (ROWG-EE') Dunn says he would wait for written clarification from the school district to decide how to proceed.

McGee's attorney says the teacher's troubles started after taking 89 students on a school field trip to the Dallas Museum of Art in April. The principal later admonished McGee about the trip, telling her a parent complained about a student seeing nude art.

Notice that Ms. McGee wasn't some flaky new-age whippersnapper fresh out of college. She's an art instructor with twenty-eight years experience. She got the approval of the art museum to ensure the kids would be exposed to nothing inappropriate.

What's the dividing line between nudity as art and porn? Apparently, at least in Frisco, Texas, there is none.