A former student of a Long Island teacher accused of "manipulating a 5th-grade girl into changing her gender without parents' knowledge or consent, causing ‘suicidal ideation’," claimed she once called his entire class "sexist little children" because they were only playing with classmates of the same sex.
The unnamed student made this claim during a contentious school board meeting Monday night that the teacher, Debra Rosenquist, made the remark when he was in her fifth-grade class at Terryville Road Elementary School in Port Jefferson Station.
"One time, I think there were boys in the class and girls in the class, and they were hanging out with each other," the student said as he addressed the Comsewogue School District board.
"She yelled at the whole class that we were all little sexist children," he continued.
"I was offended personally because my best friend in the class was a girl. It was like ‘Why would she do that to me, I was just a child.’ That affected me and made me very upset."
Earlier, the student had claimed his teacher would "target me" in the classroom, adding: "I don’t know why, I’m assuming she just didn’t like me."
The student, who didn’t elaborate on when the alleged remarks were made, was among more than a dozen speakers — including parents and local residents — to address the school board meeting in the wake of the troubling lawsuit being filed.
The suit claims the student, who was assigned female at birth and identifies as female, was targeted by her teacher, Rosenquist, throughout the 2021-2022 school year. Rosenquist began to use a male name and pronouns for the student, the suit says. The plaintiff student and parents' anonymity were maintained in the lawsuit.
"As a result, [the student] became confused as to her gender. Despite knowing about Rosenquist’s conduct…, it took the District, [Superintendent] Quinn, and [Principal] Sciove months to inform [her parents] about it," the suit said.
"Rosenquist pursued her own agenda outside the curriculum, which included persuading her 5th-grade students to try ‘being gay’ or being another gender even when they were not. To further her agenda, Rosenquist read and provided her students graphic books about gender and sexuality which were not on the curriculum," the suit said.
The district admitted in a meeting with the parents "that they had no idea Rosenquist taught from a book about LGBTQ+ individuals that was not part of the curriculum and how detailed the book was about transitioning, surgery, and hormones." One of the books Rosenquist used was "When Aidan Became a Brother," the lawsuit said.
Rosenquist also encouraged her classroom to "try being gay" or "try being a boy (if they were a girl) or girl (if they were a boy)," the lawsuit said. It added that the Brookhaven-Comsewogue School District was aware of her actions, as they were believed to have been reported to the District.
Superintendent Quinn released a statement to Fox News, which said, "After a thorough investigation and consultation with our attorney, action is [being] taken in accordance with applicable laws and collective bargaining agreements. Please be assured that this has been done."
Quinn said she was limited on what she could comment on because it was a matter of pending litigation.
