Updated at 4:55 p.m. to include comments from DFW Trans Kids and Families and additional comments from McKinney ISD.

McKinney ISD officials said Friday they have taken "actions" against two middle school teachers who previously posted anti-Islamic and anti-LGBT tweets, but they declined to provide details about the nature of any such measures.

Justin Barton and Mark Russell, who both work at Cockrill Middle School, continue to teach at the school after authorities learned this week about the tweets, which referred to transgender people as having a "mental illness" and called Islam "a satanic death cult." Some of the tweets go back to at least 2015.

This is a screenshot of a tweet from Justin Barton, who's Twitter account is now closed.

"The district certainly doesn't condone the perspectives or viewpoints that these two individuals communicated in their tweets," McKinney ISD spokesman Cody Cunningham said. "At the same time ... we have to respect the legal rights of our employees for freedom of speech and freedom of expression."

Russell has been a district employee since October 2011 and Barton since August 2005. Neither could be reached for comment.

The Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations sent a news release Thursday asking McKinney ISD to launch an investigation into whether Barton and Russell's tweets had negatively impacted their students.

"While we recognize the right to freedom of speech, CAIR-DFW is appalled by these teachers' hateful tweets," said CAIR-DFW legal director Nikiya Natale in the release. "Hate has no place in the classroom."

'Dangerous for our children'

DFW Trans Kids and Families and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance of North Texas also plan to write a joint letter to the district asking for a meeting, as well as training and education on transgender and LGBT individuals.

"This is dangerous for our children when they hear and see these kind of things, especially when coming from people they may look up to like a school teacher or administration of a school," said Melissa Ballard, co-founder and organizer of DFW Trans Kids and Families. "It's hard enough for them to be themselves."

The group, which includes more than 200 transgender children, includes kids and families in McKinney ISD. Ballard said she knows of no members at Cockrill Middle School.

"When you're a representative of an organization that's suppose to protect and lift up, especially the most vulnerable — the children — I think you need to be more cognizant of what you're saying and what you're putting out there," she said.

CAIR also offered diversity training to the district. But Cunningham said, "that's not something we have any plans for doing" because district employees are already required to attend diversity training.

"Our goal is to make sure that every student and staff member that comes into our district feels like they're valued and feels that they are respected," Cunningham said. "Regardless of their background or their religion or their color or socioeconomic situation, we want everyone to feel like it's a healthy, safe learning environment. And that's our expectation of our teachers."

Not the first time

It's not the first time the spotlight has fallen on McKinney ISD for religious and political issues. Last fall, a nonprofit organization advocating for the separation of church and state said the district crossed the line during its back-to-school convocation, which included a prayer led by the district's superintendent.

Three people — including one district employee — filed complaints with the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation after the district's mandatory employee assembly in August. The assembly took place at Prestonwood Baptist Church, where it has been held for more than a decade.

Cunningham said the district expects to hold next year's convocation at its new $69.9 million stadium and event center, but this already was the plan and was not a response to the foundation's letter. He said the district also is looking into how to address the prayer differently next year.

"We certainly acknowledge that there are some things we can do a little differently," Cunningham said.