Teacher, Angelica Cruikshank, fired for Facebook snooping: I didn't deserve it

6:45 PM, Sep 20, 2012 | comments

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Adam Freeman

Angelica Cruikshank, a Spanish teacher at Land O'Lakes High School, says she's been treated unfairly and only had her students' best interests in mind.

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Land O' Lakes, Florida -- The Pasco County teacher fired for snooping around on her students Facebook pages spoke out for the first time on Thursday.

Angelica Cruikshank, a Spanish teacher at Land O'Lakes High School was fired earlier this week after a unanimous vote from the school board.

She says she's been treated unfairly and only had her students' best interests in mind.

"I was trying to do something in good faith," Cruikshank said.

She tells 10 News in January she heard about a Facebook page, where students not only say bad things about her and other teachers, but also post answers to tests, as well as pick on each other.

"It was very egregious," she explained.

Cruikshank claims one of the students allowed her to look at the page, she never forced them to, because she wanted to protect them from cyberbullying.

"It was our responsibility as adults to channel that into a teachable moment," she explained.

But in investigative documents, the Pasco County School Board claims Cruikshank "improperly accessed the Facebook page, violating the students' right to privacy" and she was "dishonest throughout the investigation."

The documents also show she failed to tell the proper administrators about her concerns and prevented students from going on a field trip.

Cruikshank denied all of those things to 10 News.

She says she didn't deserve to lose her job.

"Maybe the way I handled that is not what others agree I should have done," she said, "I love my students. I pray for them every day."

The board chair declined an interview, standing by their 5-0 vote to fire her.

Cruikshank says she's now working on a Masters Degree. She plans to teach again, but this time at the college level.

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