Laura Klug received news from the Lumberton Independent School District superintendent Friday morning that she’d be able to return to the district’s classrooms as a substitute.
Klug was suspended earlier this week after parents complained that a transgender woman was teaching their children, calling her presence a “distraction.”
Her fate with the district was discussed during a packed school board meeting Thursday evening, where people on both sides of the argument expressed their opinion, 12 News reports.
“She’s not transgender. She’s a woman,” LGBT advocate Christopher King said. “This is a constitutional issue. You have to ask yourself this question: Is there any rational basis for her termination?”
Others felt Klug shouldn’t return.
“It is time to stop catering to special interest groups who are bent on influencing our children in a negative way,” Lumberton parent Cyndi Crews said. “The transvestite sub teacher has caused distraction and disruption in the Lumberton schools.”
Klug didn’t speak on her behalf but told 12 News she should be able to return because being trans has no impact on her ability to do her job.
“I am capable of doing a job, and I was hired to do that job. And I would like to continue doing that job,” she said.
No decision was announced Thursday because the school board can’t vote on Klug’s situation since she is not a contract employee. The superintendent has the power to fire her, and he told her Friday morning she would be welcome as a substitute in the district’s schools.
