A teacher in Middlebury, Indiana has been fired for allegedly expressing his atheism in school. Kevin Pack, 29, who was hired to teach six units of German at Northridge High School before getting dismissed from his teaching position, has filed acomplaint with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging that he was fired for expressing his atheistic views in school.

According to Pack’s claim, he was fired from the school for expressing his religious non-belief, which allegedly caused troubles with principal Gerald Rasler. In an interview with Goshen News, Pack said:

“I refused to pray, be a Christian or go along with any of (Rasler’s) evangelizing in the school, and they dismissed me over it.”

Pack is claiming that he was discriminated for his atheism, which allegedly was a major factor in the termination decision handed to him by the Middlebury Community Schools.

However, school officials are saying that Pack’s poor teaching performance was the cause of his dismissal from duties. In a press release, school superintendent Janet Allen stated the following:

“Tonight, the Board of School Trustees for Middlebury Community Schools, by a unanimous 4-0 vote, cancelled Northridge High School German teacher Kevin Pack’s probationary contract” “Middlebury Community Schools expects and demands that its teachers be proficient and try to do their best when educating our students. These efforts include effectively delivering lessons to students, conducting appropriate assessments, and timely grading. The efforts also include making responsible choices about material provided or shown to students, treating fellow colleagues and students in a non-combative and respectful manner, attending appropriate meetings and conferences, participating in scheduled activities that benefit students’ educational development, and generally conducting themselves in a professional manner. Most importantly, Middlebury Community Schools expects its teachers to place it students’ educational growth and needs as a first priority. Unfortunately, some teachers do not meet those expectations; Mr. Pack was one of those teachers.”

The press release further indicated that Pack was “merely a poor teacher, whose overall performance regressed throughout the school year and showed no potential for improvement.”

Nevertheless, Pack maintains that he was fired from teaching at the Indiana school for criticizing the principal’s religious “evangelizing” and for sending a mass email to faculty members notifying them of his atheism. Pack added that he was concerned about the principal’s expressions of religious views in school and even claimed that he was asked about his political and religious views during his job interview.

According to reports, principal Rasler often mentioned faith-based activities during official faculty emails and announcements. In one email, Rasler reportedly encouraged his faculty to “get on your knees and pray for four good weather days during the finals”.

Kevin Pack then replied: “I’m an atheist and a mystical sky daddy has nothing to do with weather, I won’t be kneeling.”

[Image from Northridge High School website]