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An upstate New York high school teacher was allegedly sidelined after she agreed to advise a Turning Point USA chapter on campus.
Jennifer Fasulo, a Spanish teacher at Charles W. Baker High School in Baldwinsville, a Syracuse suburb, was placed on a paid leave of absence on Jan. 30, just weeks after she offered to help students establish a Club America, the high school division of the Charlie Kirk co-founded conservative group, her supporters say.
“The district can confirm that a staff member has been placed on paid administrative leave while a matter is under review. We are following established administrative and legal procedures, and we are unable to comment further or share additional details at this time,” the Baldwinsville Central School informed parents in a Feb. 10 letter.
Students rallied behind Fasulo, who they described in a petition demanding her return as a victim of spiritual and political discrimination.
“We believe no educator should be punished for their personal beliefs,” according to the appeal, which has more than 2,100 signatures as of Thursday.
“This teacher is being targeted not because of her performance, but for her political beliefs,” Club America President Jerry Dygert said at a Feb. 9 board meeting.
“Our club exists to promote political understanding through civil discourse, removing the one teacher who best embodies those values puts that mission in serious jeopardy,”
“My classmates and I are confused as to why she is not in class,” another student rushing to Fasulo’s defense said. “She extends her title as teacher and is considered a mentor. The wisdom and compassion that she gives to her students is unmatched.”
But some of the students’ woke parents who think otherwise want to see Fasulo out for good.
One described Turning Point as “terrifying,” because, according to their Facebook post, “the extremist mindset tends to affect boys and young men the most.”
In her post, she called for discussion about the “potential termination” of Club America’s faculty advisor.
“Organized hate groups have no place in our public schools. Would you want a KKK chapter, a neo nazi bund?” another parent wrote.
Republican state Senate candidate Caleb Slater met Fasulo through church and other Christian circles and has taken up her cause, saying she’s being used as a sacrificial lamb to discourage any conservative organizations or opinions at the school, whose classrooms are adorned with pride flags.
“These are students who asked for this organization to be founded, not parents or teachers,” he said.
Others claim the school’s actions had nothing to do with Turning Point and was sparked by the teacher’s interaction with a student about sexual orientation, Syracuse.com reported.
An unnamed parent alleged that Fasulo questioned her daughter about her sexual orientation while advising another after school Christian youth group called Youth Alive. These claims are unsubstantiated.
The Baldwinsville Central School District referred The Post to its Feb. 10 statement. Fasulo’s husband declined to comment on the pending investigation and Fasulo could not be reached as she was returning home from a mission trip in El Salvador.
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