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Teacher Fights Firing Over MySpace Page

POSTED: Wednesday, January 24, 2007

A Landrum Middle School teacher who was fired over what county officials said was unacceptable content on the teacher's personal MySpace page is fighting to get his job back.

Until last month, John Bush, 52, was a physical education teacher at Landrum. According to St. Johns County School Board's attorney, Bush was terminated after the school superintendent saw an inappropriate photograph and some text messages on Bush's social networking Web page.

School officials conceded that the online content was not pornographic, but contained information parents would not want their children to know about their teacher.

"He had material on his MySpace account that was inappropriate for school teachers in St. Johns County," school board attorney Tracy Upchurch told Channel 4's Melanie Lawson.

Bush claims that someone obtained his password and hacked into computer to post the offensive material on his MySpace page. He said that as soon as he saw the material, it took it off.

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Bush retained an attorney and is fighting to get his job back.

A hearing with the school board on Tuesday was postponed at the attorney's request, allowing him more time to gather information on the case.

The current content on Bush's MySpace page is a portrait and a statement that he is a divorced teacher looking to date and meet friends.

"I don't think that's inappropriate, personally," said Stephanie Eastman, parent of a Landrum student. "He is a person, after all, at the end of the school day."

But another parent, who teaches at Florida Community College at Jacksonville, said educators don't need to post any personal information online.

"My students can see me at my office -- they don't need to see me on a Web site," Dean Moore said.

The school system told Channel 4 that teachers are allowed to have personal Web pages, but not to post any inappropriate material, which is up to the discretion of the school board and administration.
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