KY teacher resigns after controversy surrounding message written on classroom board

A music teacher at West Irvine Intermediate School who wrote a message to students on his classroom board that later became controversial said he resigned Monday.

Tyler Clay Morgan confirmed to the Herald-Leader that he wrote a message on his classroom board that said, “You Are Free to Be Yourself With Me. You Matter.” The message included a rainbow flag and rainbow colors.

In a Facebook post Monday, Morgan said, “I resigned from Estill County Schools effective immediately on my own recognizance. That’s all I’m saying on this matter publicly as of right now.”

In addition to the post, he also shared a photo of the board message as his cover photo.

“Please give me time and space to grieve and process. I don’t know what’s in store for me but right now, I know just need time to get my head straight,” Morgan said.

Other than confirming that he wrote the message on the classroom board, he said he wanted his Facebook post to be his only public comment for now.

School administrators were made aware of the incident on Thursday afternoon and started an investigation, Estill County Superintendent Jeff Saylor told the Herald-Leader.

Saylor declined to provide specifics about the investigation or what was inappropriate about the incident.

Saylor said the teacher had not been fired or reprimanded over the statement and they were scheduled to meet Monday.

“This has nothing to do with the statement on the board,” Saylor said. He said he had no problem with the content of the message on the board.

Saylor also said the school district does not discriminate against students or employees on any basis, including race or sexual orientation or any other basis.

On Monday after Morgan’s resignation, he told the Herald-Leader that over the past few days there has been a lot of conversations and misinformation surrounding the incident at West Irvine Intermediate School.

“A lot of this conversation centered on the statement, ‘You are free to be yourself.’ As superintendent, my issue has not been with this statement because we have to meet the needs of all of our students and families,” Saylor said.

“The issue at hand is the conversations that took place during class. I firmly believe that students and their parents expect teachers to teach content about their assigned curriculum in a subject area,“ Saylor said. “Of course, there are times that conversations may vary from that day’s lesson plan, but these conversations went far beyond the music curriculum. It is my job to make sure that parents are not surprised by these types of situations.”

Saylor said he believes that all teachers have a responsibility to be supportive of their students, “but when students share difficult situations and circumstances with them, the student should be referred to a certified school counselor.”

Saylor said the matter has been addressed and closed. He said he would not be making any further comment “out of respect for everyone involved.”

In response, Morgan said students needs come first. “Many times, those needs are unspoken. I never held a private conversation with a student, I never allowed them to feel like they are not seen, and only wished to provide a safe space to allow all students to be themselves. This included students of different nationalities, race, and of overall socio-economic standing.”

“My choice to resign was one of my own, after physical, including even death threats, occurred and I no longer left safe in the environment that is Estill County,” Morgan said.

He said his talks with Saylor ended as amicable as possible.

“However, I still firmly believe more work needs to be done in Kentucky, especially in Eastern Kentucky, to ensure that more resources are provided to make sure all students feel safe, secure, and seen, not just the ones that come out as part of any community or share hardships,” said Morgan. “My hope is that every educator that sees this is empowered, passionate, and actively working to make a change in the world of education as I am.”

Herald-Leader staff writer Bill Estep contributed to this report.