‘Beloved’ nun let go at Charlotte Catholic High School. Parents, teachers in ‘uproar.’
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Charlotte Catholic
Charlotte Catholic, a private high school, is under controversy over accreditation, parents concerns and resignations.
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A popular nun who is losing her job as a Charlotte Catholic High School religion teacher said she has yet to be given a reason why the school chose not to renew her annual contract.
Sister Agnes Cousins told the Observer that two diocesan officials informed her Monday of the decision not to renew her contract for the next school year.
“A reason does not have to given,” one of the officials told her when she asked for a reason, she told the Observer in a phone interview Wednesday.
A student started a petition to reinstate her, and Cousins said she would love to keep teaching at the school. She has taught at Charlotte Catholic since 2011, heading its theology department from 2014 until November 2019, she said.
Cousins told the Observer she has received “thousands” of supportive emails from students and others since Monday. “My inbox is exploding,” she said.
She said she has received job offers, including from out of state, but has not accepted a position. She said she did not receive an offer to teach next school year at St. Gabriel Catholic School, an elementary school in Charlotte, as some parents believed.
“I am trying to be transparent, peaceful, and if they don’t want me, I’ll move on,” she said of the Charlotte Catholic Diocese. “Sister’s intent is not to hurt anyone.”
She said giving her a reason why her Charlotte Catholic contract wasn’t renewed would be a sign of respect for her nine years of service at the school.
The Observer sought comment Tuesday from the school’s principal, Kurt Telford, and from the diocese. Neither had commented as of midday Wednesday.
News that her contract wouldn’t be renewed prompted a Change.org petition started by Andrew O’Brien, a 15-year-old freshman at Charlotte Catholic High.
The petition gathered 3,100 signatures by noon Wednesday, two days after the student launched the effort.
“Parents and teachers are in an uproar” over the situation, Katy Spiecha, a 1989 Charlotte Catholic High grad whose two sons also graduated from the school, told the Observer. She described the nun as a “longtime and beloved teacher.”
The petition said the nun had been fired “UNJUSTLY and UNFAIRLY.”
“Sister Agnes is a hardworking, dedicated, loving, caring, religious mentor for us all,” O’Brien wrote. “She is, without a single doubt, a perfect fit for the Charlotte Catholic High School community as a whole. When she’s not busy teaching the word of God to her students, she is busy carrying out God’s word at her convent.”
O’Brien’s mother, Carrie O’Brien, said she had been in constant phone contact with the nun since she got the news Monday.
A native of Buffalo, N.Y., Cousins holds masters degrees in education, social work and theological studies, according to her biography on the Charlotte Catholic High website.
Since 1979, she has been a teacher, director of religious education, a counselor and head and co-head of theology departments, according to her bio.
This story was originally published May 19, 2020 at 7:24 PM.