Such Christian Behavior - Not!!

Catholic School Teacher Let Go For Pregnancy

A Wabasha catholic school teacher says she's out of a job because she got pregnant. Now this teacher wants to make sure this doesn't happen again to someone else. She says she's angry at the school administration for what happened. Now without a job or a husband and a baby on the way, she says she's left wondering if what the school did was the Christian thing to do. Emily wants us to protect her identity because of future employment. "I was completely blown away. I was shocked," Emily says. With six months under her belt at St. Felix Catholic School in Wabasha, this 23 year old, fifth grade teacher says she felt she was on the right path. "I'm very true to my faith and my church in Lake City," says Emily. And after learning she was pregnant out of wedlock, she felt the right decision was to be honest with the school's principal. "She told me that she was glad I made the right choice in telling her," Emily says. She says after being asked by administration to write a letter to the school explaining what she had done, she was then asked by the principal and the school's priest to resign. "She said it would be best if you did not come back. because otherwise, if you did not resign, it would get worse," says Emily. We tried to talk to the Winona Roman Catholic Diocese and the St. Felix School principal but both declined to comment at this time. Emily says she did sign a contract stating she would follow the Catholic approach to learning and living. When asked, "If you signed something on conduct that said you weren't supposed to do that, isn't it their responsibility to take action?" Emily responds, "Yes, but I don't think they did it in the right way. Personally and morally are they following the contract themselves?" "You mean the bigger contract?" I ask. "Yeah, God's contract," she says. On Monday night around 30 people showed up at the St. Felix School Board meeting in support of Emily. They passed out pacifiers and little baby shoe necklaces to show their support. The family says some of the School Board members didn't even know of Emily's situation, and during the meeting, the administration simply wouldn't talk about it. "I'm embarrassed to be Catholic at this moment," says Emily's family friend JoAnn Ostgulen. Ostgulen is one of many people reaching out to support Emily. "As a fellow Catholic, it disappointed me as to how another child of Christ was handled," says Ostgulen. Emily says, "I love the school. I love what I do, and I love the kids. That's what I'm there for, and I'm not there to exploit the rest of my life." We also tried to contact the St. Felix School Board and the member we spoke with said they were told not to comment. When asked if she would take her job back if she had the chance, Emily said no. We also asked if she would be taking legal action. She said they don't know right now, but they are looking at their options.