A Taylor Middle-High School teacher has resigned after a parent complained the title of a video about gay sex was shown to students through a classroom projector as the teacher scrolled through files on his school-issued laptop computer, but he still faces a state investigation.
Jose Rosario-Gonzalez, 53, submitted his resignation two weeks ago effective next Tuesday, citing "family/personal reasons."
A school district report released this week shows Rosario-Gonzalez, a Volusia history teacher for 12 years, quit after being told he would be recommended for dismissal based on an investigation into a complaint about the classroom display of the "Gay Threesome Sex" video title in mid-May.
An investigation into the incident showed the school-issued laptop was used several times for Internet connections to files "classified as homosexual pornography." Rosario-Gonzalez "stated he did this on his own time, in the privacy of his home and it was never his intention to show students," according to the report.
Rosario-Gonzalez could not be reached for comment but posted a statement Thursday on a blog he's used for class makeup assignments in the past saying he never showed anything inappropriate to students.
School officials are forwarding their findings in the latest investigation to the Florida Department of Education. And two Taylor parents told the News-Journal they've already been interviewed by state investigators about earlier complaints Rosario-Gonzalez directed students to his blog they said sometimes included content or links to material laced with profanity and sexual overtones.
The teacher was reprimanded in March and placed on unpaid leave for three days over those complaints and continuing to refer students to the blog after he'd been told in October to stop.
The March disciplinary action was his fifth reprimand or warning from school administrators since 2006. Earlier disciplinary actions were prompted by inappropriate comments to students, straying from curriculum guidelines and cutting students short on the time allowed for a state test.
"I'm glad he's resigned, but the state needs to keep investigating," said Jennifer Peterson, whose daughter was in one of Rosario-Gonzalez's classes this year. "This man has been in trouble for years and it's been brushed under the table."
In an April 5 letter to the school district's professional standards director, Rosario-Gonzalez said the reprimand over the blog was an attempt to curb his First Amendment right to free expression and charged he was the victim of a "witch hunt" by parents.
Peterson denied that claim and Lynn Murphy, another Taylor parent who has been interviewed by state investigators, declined comment on it.
Murphy said she's glad Rosario-Gonzalez is gone from Taylor and hopes the state will revoke his teaching license. "I don't think he needs to be around or anywhere near children," she said.
If state investigators find probable cause to discipline Rosario-Gonzalez, the case will be referred to the Education Practices Commission where penalties can range from a reprimand to revocation of a teacher's state license..
delenda est...