The life as he knew of it Shawnee City Councilman/ Olathe East history teacher Justin Adrian, 33, came to a screeching halt this week.
On Monday, the Olathe School District put Adrian on administrative leave and on Wednesday Adrian abruptly resigned his position from the Shawnee City Council. This week too his personal Facebook page and his campaign web page both came down.
Adrian, who is openly gay, was/is a rising star in local Democratic politics. In 2016, he served as a Hillary delegate at the Democratic National Convention, and in 2017 he was elected to the city council.
In his resignation letter to the city, Adrian gave no reason for his departure. “Out of respect for the city of Shawnee and the city council member position I have proudly held for eight months,” he wrote, “I have reluctantly and respectfully made the decision to resign from my position as City Council member, Ward III effective immediately upon notice.”
Adrian has taught in the Olathe District since 2007. Olathe East principal Kerry Lane sent a letter to the students’ parents that clarified little. “I wanted to make you aware that Mr. Adrian, your child’s Social Studies teacher, will not be returning to Olathe East,” wrote Lane. “We have an outstanding substitute in place currently and will be looking to name a permanent teacher as quickly as possible.”
Not surprisingly, neither the Kansas City Star nor the Shawnee Mission Post mentioned Adrian’s orientation. Under normal circumstances, that should not be an issue. As the Sentinel has reported, most cases in the area involving sexual misconduct by teachers are heterosexual in nature.
What may make Adrian’s orientation an issue is the fact that Adrian’s hubby has posted at least one sexually provocative photo of Adrian, a sometimes model, on a Facebook page easily accessible to students who know where to look.
If sex is at the heart of the issue, expect the media to bury the story, unless, of course, Adrian turns out to be a priest.