Principal of Christian School Fired for… Acting. (Literally, Acting.)

I’ve heard of people getting fired from Christian schools for being gay or lesbian… but Harold Scott, an educator for 22 years and the superintendent of Parkview Christian Schools in Nebraska since 2011, was just let go for a very different reason:

Harold Scott says he was fired as superintendent of Parkview Christian Schools because he performed in a community theater production of “The Producers.”

…

In an email response to questions Wednesday, he said he was told the reason for his termination is that Calvary’s pastor, Dr. Carl Godwin, felt his participation would have a negative reflection on Calvary Community Church and Parkview Christian School.

Because how dare Scott make an audience laugh?! He probably danced a bit, too. Scandalous!

“I never imagined that my passion for acting and participating in community theater would lead to me losing my job,” he wrote. “I truly believe that I did nothing wrong and my involvement in theater should in no way interfere with the career I love.”

He didn’t do anything wrong. He was acting in a play with a PG-13 rating. He didn’t invite the students to see it. He didn’t advertise the play in school materials. It was just community theater that he did on his own time. Too bad the pastor of the church affiliated with the school has no sense of humor.

Any rational person would see this as a non-issue. Any good school leader would judge Scott purely on his performance as an administrator. Parkview isn’t run by rational people who care about education first and foremost.

But maybe now, Scott can get a better job. As one commenter at the Lincoln Journal Star noted, “his career can go no other place but up.”

(via Stephanie)

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Anonymous

This article doesn’t have its facts right. This wasn’t the only reason he was fired, and though he didn’t invite students to the show, he invited the school board. He wasn’t fired for the dancing or humor in the Producers, it was the content. The show is sexist and racist and honestly, I think we too often excuse that kind of thing because of humor. If there’s any mistake that was made by the school it’s that apparently Harold Scott didn’t know why he was being fired. The show was part of it, but not the only reason. This article honestly makes me question anything I read on the internet, so thank you, Hemant Mehta for making me more wary. I hope that Harold Scott gets another job, too. He’s a good man who should simply not be the superintendent of a Christian school. Anyone who knows anything about Calvary Community Church or Parkview Christian School knows that neither organization fires people very often, and they don’t take these kinds of decisions lightly. It’s almost comical how manipulative and misinformed this article is. I know Harold Scott, Carl Godwin, and the staff of both Calvary and Parkview personally. Mehta clearly does not.
Anonymous

Exactly. He wasn’t just fired for acting in a musical. He was fired for many more reasons. This was just the straw that broke the camel’s back.