By JOHN CURRAN, Associated Press Writer
Last Updated: February 28, 2006, 01:21:09 AM PST
EAGLESWOOD TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) - To students at Eagleswood Elementary School, she used to be Mr. McBeth. Now, after undergoing a sex change, 71-year-old Lily McBeth is ready to return to teaching as Miss McBeth.
Despite criticism from parents, the school board on Monday stood by its decision to allow McBeth to resume working as a substitute teacher.
After two hours of public debate and a private meeting with McBeth and her lawyer, the board took no action on calls by several parents to bar McBeth from returning to the school where she taught for five years before becoming a woman.
"It was magnificent," McBeth said afterward. "You saw democracy in action."
McBeth, a retired sales executive who was married for 33 years and had three children, underwent gender reassignment surgery last year and re-applied for her job under her new name.
McBeth on Monday told the school board and the crowd that she loves teaching and children, and looks forward to returning to the classroom.
"This is not something I got into just as a whim," she said.
Several parents said children in the school - which consists of kindergarten through sixth grade - were not old enough to understand the concept of changing one's gender.
"I, as a parent, am appalled to have this issue brought into my child's psychology," Steve Bond said.
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