Photo: Several Leander High students give finger to calls to protesters holding picket signs urging a return to Jesus’s teachings in the classroom as an associate principal attempts to broker the peace. One student shouted repeatedly “You’re going to hell!” (TCTU photo)
LEANDER, Texas — Some Leander High School students were noticeably shocked to see anything other than picket signs protesting ICE outside their campus.
When classes dismissed on Monday afternoon, around eight adult protesters greeted vehicles and pedestrians leaving for the day. At issue for the picketers: three Leander High School teachers documented wearing clothing of the opposite sex while teaching class and flaunting their sexual identity opinions into the classroom.
Protest signs, among some statements of Christian faith and Bible verses, contained slogans such as:
“Christ was in Public School for 300+ years. Time to BRING HIM BACK!”
“KEEP “Trans” Groomers out of classrooms”
“MATH is ‘Anti-Trans’ … XX [does not equal] XY
“Include ‘World’s Greatest’ Teacher … Jesus of Nazareth, the CHRIST”
Protesters, when spoken to, reported some thumbs up and vocal affirmations, though opposition was noticeably louder. Protesters said they were from local churches, plus a couple of Leander ISD parents, but wished not to be identified.
“We’re Leander High, we do things our own way,” one student driver leaving the school was shouting up and down Bagdad Road, the main thoroughfare outside the school.
On the north driveway, others shouted explitives and displayed their middle fingers. “You’re going to hell” bellowed one student, repeatedly.
Two Austin ISD Police officers and an assistant principal responded to the scenes of the protests. No altercations were noticed, although the principal did walk over to assuage and disperse some of the pedestrians who stopped to raise their voices (and their fingers) at the protesters.
Parental opinion was mixed, as waiting drivers at a nearby intersection were polled.
“I get what they’re saying, but is this the right way to go about it? I don’t know,” one parent opined. “I think it’s confusing to students.”
“What does it matter? This is 2026! Students are going to see it in the real world anyway so what the [explitive] does it matter?” another said, with children in the back seat signaling agreeent.
“I agree that teachers should stay the same gender as they started [the class year as], but that’s my religious opinion, and public schools may not be the best place to express that,” another parent said. “But maybe there are laws.”
Still another parent was convinced the protest was about immigration law enforcement and ICE agents and expressed agreement with President Donald Trump’s policies before driving off. Just three weeks ago, numerous Leander High students were organized into hosting “walk out” style protests.
Duing the fall semester, photos of a math teacher dressed as a woman began circulating among students. In December, former Round Rock ISD and Texas State Board of Education candidate Mary Bone shared on her Facebook Page concerns raised anonymously by families of Leander High School students. Among them, she wrote, was a lack of transparency regarding transgender teachers on staff — specifically three educators:
- Kelly Stephens (Chemistry teacher, allegdly a biological woman posing as a man, known to instruct students on how to pronounce his name and to refer to him as “Mr. Stephens”),
- Campbell Duncan (Theater teacher, allegedly a biological woman now posing as a man), and
- Jim Monroe (Math teacher and allegedly a biological man who was photographed wearing a dress to class and preferring to be referred to as a female).
Leander ISD websites, according to Bone, list teachers with preferred names, photos, and sometimes pronouns, but there is no indication if these match their legal names or biological sex on official Texas teaching certifications.
Bone also pointed out other concerns such as forms asking students for preferred pronouns (potentially violating state law), and teachers giving teens advice on condoms and selecting a designated driver when out drinking. See screenshots that Bone shared below.
“This isn’t about discrimination — it’s about honesty, transparency, and informed parental consent,” Bone wrote on her Facebook Page in December. “Should parents be notified about a teacher’s gender identity? Should districts provide links to public certification records? Have these kinds of classroom practices crossed a line? Our kids deserve protection and our families deserve better oversight.”
The protesters stayed for about 20 minutes as traffic made its way out of the high school school parking lots.
