A transgender teacher has been removed from his school classroom by a Florida district after he allegedly threatened to shoot students.
Hernando School District (HSD) has confirmed that the teacher has now been removed.
District officials have refused to identify the Fox Chapel Middle School teacher.
However, Slay News has been able to independently identify the teacher as Ashlee Renczkowski, a biological male who claims to be transgender and uses “she/her” pronouns.
WEAR ABC 3 reported that law enforcement officials have seized Renczkowski’s firearms over the comment about wanting to shoot students.
According to the local outlet, Renczkowski threatened to murder children after learning of a social media post in which his “sexual orientation was being discussed negatively.”
The teacher was sent to the school guidance counselor’s office on March 24 after reportedly claiming to be having “bad thoughts.”
Renczkowski allegedly made “concerning comments about self-harm” and said he was having “suicidal thoughts.”
He also warned that he owns firearms and “wanted to shoot some students due to them not performing to their ability.”
The Hernando County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) quickly responded to the incident by removing three firearms and ammunition from the teacher’s home that same day.
While not mentioning Renczkowski by name, the Florida Department of Education released a statement Friday indicating that the teacher who made the threats has been removed from the classroom.
“Earlier this week, the Department was informed of a situation regarding student safety at a school in Hernando County,” the statement said.
“Upon the Department bringing the concern to the Superintendent Wednesday evening, only then did the district remove the teacher from the school, effective yesterday, Thursday, April 13.
“Therefore, the teacher is no longer at the school.”
Please see the Florida Department of Education’s statement below on a school safety situation in Hernando County. pic.twitter.com/gBwNpcf4H6
— Florida Department of Education (@EducationFL) April 14, 2023
Parents have accused the school district of withholding information from them due to alleged discrepancies in what allegedly happened.
The school district said in a letter to parents on Thursday that the investigation from the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office revealed details “not previously known by the school district.”
The letter adds that those details “appear to conflict with information gathered at the time of the incident.”
“In light of this additional information, the school district will continue to investigate the incident and require further involvement by mental health experts,” the letter said.
“As part of our investigation, we will take a hard look at all the actions that were taken on that day, and in the days following the incident, and determine if any steps were missed.”
The school district said that the conclusions from the pending investigation may lead “to consideration of additional safeguards.”
During last week’s school board meeting, a small number of parents said that they thought the teacher was being targeted because he’s transgender.
However, “the majority of parents” did not agree with that sentiment, according to local media.
“Doesn’t matter whether they’re white, black, purple, green, or a rhinoceros,” one father said.
“I’m glad she’s [sic] a great teacher. She [sic] made a threat.”
Another parent responded, “Anybody that makes a comment like that should not be working in a school.
“If a student made that comment there would be charges pressed.
“The child would be expelled.”
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