Teacher being investigated for referring to students who invited her to church as 'cretins'

A Florida public school district is investigating a middle school teacher for making disparaging remarks about her students on a Facebook page for local atheists, in which she complained about being "bullied" by the students.

Susan Creamer, a teacher at Merritt Brown Middle School, stated in one of her posts that some of her students were taking turns inviting her to church and leaving flyers encouraging her to attend church events.

She lamented that every time a student sneezes, they would loudly say "God Bless You!" and look in her direction.

"I have complained twice to the principal — once last month and once today. She has spoken privately to one or two of the little cretins, but it seems to do NO GOOD," Creamer wrote on Atheists of Bay County's private Facebook page. "I am feeling bullied and harassed. It has become intolerable," she continued.

Karen Tucker, a spokeswoman for Bay District Schools, stated that school policy prohibits teachers from criticizing students either in person or on an Internet page, The Walton Sun reported.

The district learned about Creamer's comments after a group member took and somehow distributed a screen shot. While the teacher made her remarks on a closed page, Tucker said that it is still considered as a violation of school policy.

"I don't think it matters (if the page is closed), because eventually someone else is going to see it posted, which is what happened," said Tucker. "People were re-posting. If you said things on there, which she did, about students, no, I don't think it matters," she added.

Tucker said that Creamer could face a range of disciplinary action if she is found to be in violation of the policy.

Jeromy Henderson, a member of the Atheists of Bay County page, likened the district's treatment of Creamer to a "modern-day witch hunt." He argued that the group was not meant for public consumption, and Creamer was only looking for advice on how to deal with her students.

The district has received at least one letter from a parent who complained about Creamer's remarks.

In a letter to school superintendent Bill Husfelt, Crystal Moseley asserted that the students would not know about Creamer's personal beliefs had she not boasted about her atheism. The parent added that the words the teacher used to describe her students was "completely unprofessional and completely out of line."