Crossroads South teacher reassigned to Brooks Crossing after Bush photo incident.
By: Melissa Hayes
The teacher at the center of a national debate over her posting a photograph of the president in her classroom has been reassigned to a different school.
Shiba Pillai-Diaz, who had been a seventh- and eighth-grade language arts teacher at Crossroads South Middle School, began her new assignment as a basic skills teacher at Brooks Crossing Elementary School on Wednesday.
Ms. Pillai-Diaz walked out of the middle school Oct. 1 after Assistant Principal Mark Daniels and Principal James Warfel approached her about removing a photograph of President George W. Bush and his wife.
According to the statement released by Superintendent Gary McCartney Oct. 1, students and parents had complained that "Ms. Pillai-Diaz was using her position, classroom and teaching time to engage in partisan politics," and asked her to remove the photo. Ms. Pillai-Diaz has said she does not allow political discussion in her classroom.
After a confrontation with Mr. Daniels, Ms. Pillai-Diaz refused to remove the picture. Ms. Pillai-Diaz left the school after a meeting with Mr. Warfel.
Thinking she had been fired over a photograph, Ms. Pillai-Diaz went to the New York Post and brought the issue to the attention of an array of national news outlets, including ABC News.
After meeting with Dr. McCartney, and clearing up the misunderstanding that she had been fired, Ms. Pillai-Diaz has been relocated to Brooks Crossing Elementary School.
Ms. Pillai-Diaz said she was ready to go back to teaching when she met with the superintendent Oct. 7.
"I was ready to jump right in and I guess there was some question in his mind about what might happen, if there might be some disruption," she said.
It was after their meeting that he called her to say she was being transferred to Brooks Crossing, she said. She is not sure whether she will have her own classroom or what her exact role will be.
"She’ll be teaching remediation, basic skills, probably to grades three, four and five," Dr. McCartney said.
Although he sent out a press release Oct. 1 regarding the issue, Dr. McCartney said that as superintendent he is not in a position to comment on parents’ claims that there was more to the issue than the presence of a photograph.
"The last thing I want to do is talk about this lady’s performance in the newspaper," he said.