A history teacher in Florida was placed on leave this week after a parent alleged she gave her son the “Most Likely to Become Dictator” superlative because of his conservative beliefs and allowed students to call him a “Naziphile” because of “his interest in World War II and participation in ROTC.”
The Alachua County School District has placed Gainesville High School history teacher Lauren Watts on administrative leave following the allegations made by Crystal Marull at a State Board of Education meeting in St. Augustine this week, school district officials told WCJB.
Marull claimed that in May 2023, the teacher had the class vote on the superlative and tried to make her son come to the front of the class to accept the award, which he refused.
The teacher’s placement on leave follows a letter from Florida’s Attorney General James Uthmeier, a Republican, to Superintendent Kamela Patton and school board members demanding that the teacher be held to account if the allegation is true.
“If these facts bear out-and we have no reason to doubt Dr. Marull’s veracity-then this teacher should be immediately terminated, and never allowed to teach again in Florida,” Uthmeier wrote.
“Florida law prohibits bullying and harassment. The Alachua County School Board’s policy also prohibits bullying and harassment. Indeed, teachers must adhere to the Principles of Professional Conduct for the Education Profession in Florida.”
The attorney general states that Florida law prohibits teachers from harassing or discriminating against any student based on political beliefs and intentionally exposing a student to “unnecessary embarrassment or disparagement.”
“This teacher violated Florida law, the School Board’s policy, and no less than six ethical principles,” Uthmeier stated. “Her teacher’s certificate must be revoked.”
Watts told Marull in a 2023 email that the superlatives she had her class vote on were “for fun,” saying it was an exercise she had done with her classes for four years.
“I give students the option to change or add superlatives to the list from previous years and then the class nominates students and votes on the winner,” Watts wrote, according to Alachua Chronicle. “I was not aware that [your son] was upset that he was nominated for that superlative a few weeks ago. To my knowledge, he did not ask to be removed when he was nominated or when the class voted. When I passed them out today, I reiterated that they were just for fun. These were not meant to be offensive. I do apologize.”
However, the mother, who no longer has kids attending the school district, was unsatisfied, believing that the teacher is “clearly missing the bigger problem.”
“And I followed up with an email to her saying, ‘You’re a history teacher, if there’s anybody who should be sensitive to what a dictator is and the trauma and genocide they bring onto populations, it should be you,’” Marull told WCJB.
She believes pressure from the attorney general is holding the teacher and school district accountable.
Marull has had several issues with the school district over the years.
In an op-ed published last September by The Christian Post, Marull detailed what she described as a “drawn-out fight” with the local school district after her 15-year-old son came home upset after finding the book Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin in the school library. The mother says the book makes light of a 6-year-old child being sexually active and exploited.
Two weeks later, the mother said that she checked out the library during her younger son’s back-to-school night and found several “problematic books.”
Those include A is for Activist by Innosanto Nagara, who Marull said is “a self-described Marxist who believes ‘capitalism is inherently exploitative.’” She said the book included quotes like “L-G-B-T-Q! Love who you choose, ‘cuz love is true!”
When Marull complained about the book and filed for a formal review, she claims the school district released her information to the media and caused swift backlash in her personal life and relationships.
“A colleague confronted me at the bus stop, insulting me in front of my child. She later asked the district to keep my 6-year-old from sitting near her child, and, shockingly, they complied for the entire school year,” Marull wrote. “Worse, they initially claimed it was due to my son’s behavior, which led me to punish him — until the bus driver revealed the truth.
“Friends and colleagues cut ties, refusing even to meet for coffee. My world was turned upside down, and this was just the beginning of the district’s coordinated effort to silence and intimidate any parent who questioned their content choices.”
