Your maths master will become a mistress, pupils told
By John Clare, Education Editor
PARENTS of 1,500 pupils at a comprehensive have been told that a middle-aged teacher is changing from a man into a woman before their children’s eyes and there is nothing the school can do about it.
In a letter to parents, Mrs Chris Gale, chairman of the governors at Ridgeway School in Wroughton, near Swindon, Wilts, said Terry Craggs, 52, who is married, “has entered upon a course of gender re-assignment treatment, the outcome of which will ultimately be a change of sex for him”.
However, surgery to bring about the change would not be immediate, the letter said. “On the contrary, it will not take place until Mr Craggs has dressed and lived as a woman for at least a year, meanwhile remaining under medical guidance.”
Mr Craggs, who teaches information technology and maths, said he hoped to be known as Miss Terri Craggs from next September. He is taking hormones, has begun to develop breasts and wears make-up and women’s clothes to school.
In her letter, Mrs Gale told parents that the Gender Re-assignment Regulations of 1999 issued by the Department for Education and Employment made it impossible for the school to suggest that Mr Craggs should take a sabbatical. Last night, Mrs Gale said some parents had voiced disquiet about the effect on their children of watching Mr Craggs becoming a woman but more had shown support.
Mrs Celia Arnold was among parents who said they appreciated Mr Craggs had a problem but that the needs of vulnerable children also needed to be considered. She said: “Some children have expressed discomfort. Giving Mr Craggs leave of absence would have been a more appropriate way of dealing with the situation.”
Other parents were angered by the school’s decision to tell the pupils before informing them. Brian Evans said: “We would have liked to have talked to our son about it first. When the pupils in our son’s class asked about the operation Mr Craggs would be having, their tutor told them he would ’have his dick chopped off’.”
Mr Craggs said everyone had been “unbelievably supportive”.
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