Gay Teacher Back To Work After Investigation
Kristopher Franks, the Fort Worth teacher who booted Dakota Ary from his class for anti-gay comments, returns to work today following an investigation into alleged improper behavior.
Franks was put on paid administrative leave last Monday for reasons unknown, though reportedly unrelated to the Ary incident, which became a national news story.
The Dallas Voice has more details:
Franks, who had not spoken to the press previously on the advice of his union representative, said Thursday afternoon that he had just met with Fort Worth Independent School District administrators, who told him the nearly weeklong investigation had determined that the allegations against him were unfounded. He did not elaborate on the substance of those allegations.
Franks also said administrators had given him the option of returning to teach at Western Hills High or transferring to another school in the district.
“I haven’t made up my mind yet what I’m going to do,” Franks told Dallas Voice by phone Thursday afternoon. “I’m going to go back to work tomorrow, and I will talk to my boss [the district’s world languages supervisor], and see what she says and decide what’s the best thing to do from there.”
Franks told the paper that he's satisfied with the investigation, and now has to decide how to move forward. “I can go back to work, which is great. But now I just have to figure out how to fix the damage this whole thing has done to my personal life," he said.




If there's a way he can sue for "Defamation of character" I'd go for it.
Posted by: David Ehrenstein | Sep 30, 2011 8:00:51 AM
Dakota Ary looks like a troll.
Posted by: Reality | Sep 30, 2011 8:03:50 AM
The kid looks like a zombie. Totally lifeless
Posted by: Steve | Sep 30, 2011 8:03:53 AM
Good post! Thanks for the sharing!
Posted by: research paper | Sep 30, 2011 8:04:51 AM
Why would someone name their kid Dakota? Ridiculous.
Posted by: Steve | Sep 30, 2011 8:07:21 AM
One can only imagine what it must be like to teach in a homophobic hellhole like Fort Worth. My sympathies to this brave teacher.
Posted by: ynot | Sep 30, 2011 8:50:40 AM
He is lifeless. Just a brainwashed zombie, essentially, with nothing going for him, and no mind of his own. This is what fundamentalism does to individuals, and when you're poisoned with this filth at such a young age, the affects are obvious.
I hope Mr. Franks doesn't go to another school unless he feels comfortable with that being the best decision for himself and career. Ultimately this Ary kid is the one at fault and should be the only one suffering consequences of his offensive and disruptive behavior.
Posted by: Francis | Sep 30, 2011 8:52:43 AM
Each time I see the picture of that kid, all I can think is "Draco Malfoy"
Posted by: yuninv | Sep 30, 2011 9:07:53 AM
Poor Dakota Ary - he'll likely be turning tricks at truckstops in about ten years.
Posted by: Abel | Sep 30, 2011 9:26:14 AM
Instead of throwing another fabulous cocktail party for the A-list gays, why doesn't the HRC use that money to finance a defamation of character suit against this snot nosed kid and his rightwing FRC, Liberty Council enablers?
Posted by: Continuum | Sep 30, 2011 9:27:25 AM
@CONTINUUM and others. Why would HRC consider it a defamation of character to be called gay? Where's the defamation?
Posted by: Abel | Sep 30, 2011 9:30:18 AM
@ABEL - sure, its does damage to the cause to sue for defamation of character implying that being gay is a bad thing. But, one can easily argue that his life has been completely altered by this, potentially disabling him from earning a living in his profession. That, to me, justifies a big fat law suit. We all know, that in socially conservative areas, all it takes is a parent with a pitch fork to rustle the town feathers and force a perfectly good teacher out of town.
Posted by: jim | Sep 30, 2011 9:43:41 AM
@Abel: I think the defamation is the assertion that Mr. Franks behaved in an unprofessional or irresponsible way.
Posted by: gregory brown | Sep 30, 2011 9:45:33 AM
Does that mean that he gets his punishment reinstated now that its out that he is just another lying little twit "christian"?
Posted by: Michael | Sep 30, 2011 10:13:04 AM
One of the recent living recipient of the Medal of Honor is named "Dakota", Sgt. Dakota L. Meyer, USMC.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakota_Meyer
Posted by: Ted B. (Charging Rhino) | Sep 30, 2011 10:45:39 AM
@YNOT ah, once again the ignorant stereotyping of Texas and the cities within it. Maybe you should do some research about Fort Worth before making ill-informed statements like you did.
Fort Worth elected a gay city councilman, Joel Burns, who last year took a point of privilege to make a statement about teen suicides and his own struggles growing up as a gay teen.
Fairness Fort Worth and the city of Fort Worth’s Human Relations Commission recently received the IAOHRA President's Award for its work regarding human rights, specifically citing work on LGBT issues (http://www.iaohra.org/2011-presidents-award/).
That "hellhole" seems to be doing better than most cities across this country. But you seek to judge without actually doing any research.
Posted by: RBearSAT | Sep 30, 2011 10:54:48 AM
Good for the teacher.
I'm hesitant to really demean Ary any further, mostly because he's a high schooler in Texas, raised conservative Christian. Sometimes, kids grow up and they become better people and they see how wrong they were. A good handful of my friends did when they got to college and saw something outside of their bubble.
I just hope that will happen to Ary, but you never know...
Posted by: luminum | Sep 30, 2011 11:10:16 AM
I hope all parties involved get what's coming to them. Too bad karma isn't on little Dakota's side...
Posted by: Lance | Sep 30, 2011 11:40:56 AM
@RBEARSAT, I wouldn't let the folks here get to you. People love to excuse away homophobia on this site by making it a Southern thing, or a Christian thing. It shows that folks in our community have as much to learn about others as others have to learn about us. You may also notice that most of the people not bashing a place they've probably never even visited, are bashing the kid for his name and his appearance. The comment section on this blog is not on my top 10 list of places to go to find mature, rational adults.
Posted by: Bill | Sep 30, 2011 1:46:42 PM
@BILL very good points and thanks. I agree that some of the comments lack some maturity in content. I wanted Fort Worth, as a city, to get its due with regards to its work with the LGBT community. Joel Burns has done an incredible job in the city and there are some great people there making great things happen. I just wish people would do a little thinking before jumping to conclusions.
Posted by: RBearSAT | Sep 30, 2011 2:08:04 PM
Maybe it's just me, but I get a VERY bid vibe just from Dakota Ary's picture. His hairstyle, the way his angular face seemingly reflects a dead, hateful soul ...
Scary.
Posted by: Rodney Wollam | Sep 30, 2011 7:30:39 PM
Okay folks, for crying out loud, this is 14 year old kid your talking about. Cut with the cracks about him and where he might end up in the future. Are you really that desperate to "make a point?" Honestly, some of these comments are disturbing in their own right. And you wonder why some people have a problem with the LGBT community.
Posted by: RBearSAT | Oct 1, 2011 12:33:59 AM
AFTER READING STORIES LIKE THIS, I HAVE NEVER UNDERSTOOD WHY HETEROSEXUALS DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HOMOSEXUALITY AND EDUCATION. IN COLLEGE, HOMOSEXUALS ARE MORE LIKELY TO MAJOR IN FINE OR LIBERAL ARTS, WHEREAS, HETEROSEXUALS ARE MORE LIKELY TO MAJOR IN THE SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY. HOMOSEXUALS ARE PEOPLE WHO TAKE INTERNAL FEELINGS AND EXPRESS THEM OUTWARD. MUSIC, ART, LITERATURE, HISTORY, SOCIOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGY ARE EXCELLENT CONDUITS FOR HOMOSEXUAL EXPRESSION. SINCE PROFESSIONAL CAREERS IN THESE AREAS ARE DIFFICULT TO OBTAIN, MANY COLLEGE HOMOSEXUALS PURSUE THE EDUCATION-TRACK IN THESE FIELDS - THEREBY, PRODUCING HOMOSEXUAL TEACHERS.
THANKS FOR YOUR TIME.
CHRISTOPHER ALLEN HORTON
Posted by: CHRISTOPHER ALLEN HORTON | Mar 22, 2012 1:14:55 AM