Florida teacher fired for instructing students to write their own obituaries before active shooter drill, says he's 'done nothing wrong'



A Florida teacher was fired hours after instructing students to write their own obituaries ahead of an active shooter drill on campus. The teacher said he has done nothing wrong and doesn't regret the lesson plan.

Psychology teacher Jeffrey Keene gave the controversial assignment to 11th and 12th-graders on Tuesday at the Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando. Keene asked students in his first-period class to write their own obituaries.

Keene said he told his students that the lesson "isn't a way to upset you or anything like that."

By the second-period class, students informed the teacher that school officials interviewed them about the assignment. A school supervisor came to the class to observe the lesson. Before the second-period class, Keene said he gave students a disclaimer after one pupil became upset in the first class.

Before the end of the seventh period, Keene had been fired.

A spokesperson for Orange County School District said in statement, "Dr. Phillips High School families were informed that a teacher gave an inappropriate assignment about school violence. Administration immediately investigated and the probationary employee has been terminated."

Keene, who had just been hired at the school in January, was not a member of the union, so he reportedly has no recourse to reverse the district's decision.

The teacher of 15 years is appealing his termination.

Keene, 63, did not regret his lesson plan.

"It wasn't to scare them or make them feel like they were going to die, but just to help them understand what’s important in their lives and how they want to move forward with their lives and how they want to pursue things in their journey," Keene said.

He said of his lesson plan, "If they died 24 hours from now, what would they do differently than they did yesterday? And that’s to get them to get rid of all the fluff and show them what’s important in the world."

“It wasn’t to say, ‘You’re going to die, and let’s stress you out.'”

Keene asked, "If you can't talk real to them, then what's happening in this environment?"

"I don't think I did anything incorrectly," Keene told WOFL. "I know hindsight is 20/20, but I honestly didn't think a 16-, 17-, 18-year-old would be offended or upset by talking about something we're already talking about."

The teacher defiantly declared, "In my mind, I've done nothing wrong."

Keene recalled being fired, "When they said you have the option to resign without violating your contract, I said, ‘I didn’t do anything wrong.’ I said, ‘If I did, tell me what it is.’ They said, ‘We can’t do that.’ I said, 'In that case, since I don’t know what I did wrong, you can go ahead and terminate me without cause.'"

Keene hopes to find another teaching job and vowed not to change the way he teaches students.

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Teacher would rather rather get fired than obey Florida law saying schools must tell parents about their children's sexuality, gender



A Florida public school teacher took to her TikTok page to declare she would rather get fired, sued, or thrown in jail than obey state law saying schools must inform parents of changes in their children's sexuality and gender pertaining to school services offered to them.

What are the details?

"I just want to go ahead and state that I would rather lose my job than out one of my students to their families,” said Amber Mercier of the Academy in Port Charlotte, which serves middle and high school students. “Being a safe person and a safe place for kids that don’t have that at home is one of the best parts of being a teacher, so yeah, I’m not doing it. I don’t know — fire me, sue me, take me to jail. I’m not doing it.”

Florida elementary teacher says she will still hold back information from students\u2019 parents about them coming outpic.twitter.com/DuJUDN5ux3
— Libs of Tik Tok (@Libs of Tik Tok) 1648576569

Mercier's TikTok account went private Wednesday afternoon, but Libs of TikTok saved a copy and posted it to Twitter. The National Desk said it reached out to Mercier for comment but did not hear back prior to publication of its article.

What did the school district have to say?

Charlotte County Public Schools told the National Desk it's investigating Mercier's video.

"Our superintendent, assistant superintendent of HR, and the principal at the Academy have begun an investigation as to what happened today concerning the post by the teacher,” the school district noted to the outlet in an emailed statement. “We always are and always will be in compliance with laws, policies, and procedures put in place by the governor, the legislature, the commissioner of education, and the state school board — that will never change. This investigation will be a priority on today’s list of things do."

Anything else?

Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the Parental Rights in Education Act into law Monday.

The law — which left-wing pro-LBGTQ types have falsely referred to as the "Don't Say Gay" bill — prohibits classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in grades K-3, and it doesn't use the word "gay" or prevent its use.

PJ Media said the governor's office confirmed that the new law also requires school districts to adopt procedures for notifying parents if there are changes in services from schools regarding children’s mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being. The provision applies to students K-12, the outlet said.