A student from Hanover, Jared Swank, is standing up to the administration of the Hanover Area School District after a teacher allegedly displayed a video to her students of Swank dancing with his date – a transgendered student – at their prom last Friday.

“Since I’ve come out in eighth grade, I’ve been made fun of by teachers – it’s an on-going thing, and students shouldn’t have to go through this,” Swank said.

Swank insists that his teacher inappropriately filmed him dancing with his date, then proceeding to show the footage to his class in a manner that could be considered bullying.

Swank and his mother, Dawn Mendygral, attended a regularly scheduled school board meeting last night to further address the issue. The board responded to their pleas by agreeing to internally investigate the matter and act accordingly.

Mendygral expressed in a statement on Thursday that she would like to see the teacher fired. The administration, however, does not appear to be making any hasty decisions.

“Once we understand what has occurred, we will do interviews and we will also interview [Mendygral] and [Swank] to understand their position and their statement and obviously the faculty involved and the students in the area,” said John Pericci, board president.

As of this afternoon, Swank still had not spoken to administrators about the incident.

Swank says he went to a guidance counselor a month ago with the goal of bringing to the school a gay advocate to speak and spread awareness of the profound effects of bullying in schools, but has not witnessed follow-up action since the meeting.

PSEC will continue to monitor the situation as events unfold.