This Teacher Was Fired and Reported to Counter-TERRORISM Agency for Simply Telling a Lesbian Student "God Loves You"

News Staff : Feb 6, 2018
Lifesitenews.com

The Christian teacher is now viewed as a "radicalization threat" for answering students' questions about her beliefs.

(England)— [Lifesitenews.com] A government-funded pre-apprenticeship academy in Bristol reported a Christian teacher as a "radicalization threat" for answering students' questions about her beliefs, Bristol Employment Tribunal has heard. (Photo: Classroom/Shutterstock/via LifeSiteNews)

Svetlana Powell, a teacher of some 17 years' experience, told the Tribunal that she was dismissed by the T2 Apprenticeship Academy in Bristol in July 2016 after being asked by students about her views on homosexuality.

In reply to a personal question, Mrs. Powell said that her personal belief was that homosexuality was against God's will, but that He loved every person, regardless of what they did, or who they were.

When told that one of the students identified as a lesbian, Mrs. Powell in conviction of God's care and love for every person, turned to her and said: "God loves you." Two days later, the Academy's HR Officer, Stacy Preston, told Mrs. Powell that she was fired for "gross misconduct" with immediate effect.

The Academy's Chief Safeguarding Officer, Sian Prigg, told the Tribunal that after a group of students complained that they were "brainwashed and preached to," she decided to contact the local coordinator for Prevent—the government's 'counter-terrorism' strategy group—to report the incident. Mrs. Powell said she did not know of being reported as a "radicalization threat" until she brought a legal claim against the Academy and read Mrs. Prigg's witness statement for the Tribunal.

Fired with immediate effect
Mrs. Powell has told the Tribunal she had been a teacher for 17 years at a Bristol College with an exemplary record, before joining T2 Academy in May 2016 as a tutor. T2 is a pre-apprenticeship academy run by a private firm, Marr Corporation, on rolling contracts from the government.

Returning to work from a one-week holiday on 25 July, Mrs. Powell was assigned to teach a class for 2 days, on July 25 & 26, 2016, in the absence of a fellow tutor. She was provided with a lesson plan, including a discussion on employability, or another topic which she considered to be appropriate...

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