Elyria High School teacher resigns after school investigation

ELYRIA — An Elyria High School teacher has resigned after several inappropriate tweets were made public in September. Social studies teacher Ryan Quinn reached an agreement with the Elyria Schools' Board of Education that was approved Wednesday night. Superintendent Ann Schloss declined to comment on personnel matters. In September, a former student of Quinn's took screenshots of tweets from Quinn's private account, which included a racial slur and suggestive comments. According to the resignation agreement between the school board and Quinn, he will leave his job Aug. 1. Until then, Quinn will receive full pay and fringe benefits. He will also get back pay and fringe benefits that were suspended by the school board on Dec. 11. Quinn quoted song lyrics in replies to some former and current students, such as "Three finger rings, fat a-- links, and a big booty b---- to go with it" from Ice Cube and lyrics the from Geto Boys' song "D--- It Feels Good To Be a Gangsta." Quinn also responded to one former student and said she had an "incredible a--." Quinn is not allowed to discuss why he resigned, which includes posting on social media. If he requests, the school will send a neutral letter of reference, which states only his dates of employment and the positions he held. The former student who published the screenshots to Twitter, Jayna Palella, asked on the social media platform why he felt inclined to be creepy toward current and past students. "Being an educator and tweeting about a someone's 'abs', 'incredible a--', or 'big booty b----' says all one needs to know," she tweeted. "Teachers tell us every day to watch what we post on social media because once it's up, it's out there forever. Perhaps you're the one that has a lot to learn." Several other former students had responded to Palella on Twitter, saying that Quinn had made inappropriate comments toward students both on social media and in the classroom. Elyria Schools started an investigation after the tweets were revealed. The district has a social media policy regarding staff, which says that staff who have personal social media accounts are prohibited from posting "inappropriate information" that may result in the disruption of classroom activity. The superintendent has discretion on determining when that line has been crossed, according to the policy. Excessive informal and social involvement with individual students also is prohibited in the policy. In the resignation agreement, the school board agreed to release, acquit and discharge any "damages of whatever kind and nature, whether known or unknown," and the employee will not file any grievance with the district. Contact Laina Yost at (440) 329-7121 or lyost@chroniclet.com