After the online behavior of the now-resigned drag queen teacher at Drake Middle School was exposed, several parents have now come forward, claiming they petitioned the Auburn City School (ACS) system years ago to address this issue, but their concerns were ignored.
Last week, 1819 News published audio from then-Drake Middle School music teacher Seth McCollough. The audio came from McCollough’s podcast, "Bleu Dreams," named after his drag queen pseudonym, Colana Bleu. In the audio, McCollough talked about using his podcast platform to engage with students because his “hands are tied” at his job.
The same day the story came out, McCollough sent an email announcing his resignation from the school. The school board accepted his resignation at an emergency meeting that night.
RELATED: Auburn's Drake Middle School drag queen teacher resigns after backlash over comments
After the original story, several parents contacted 1819 News, saying they had attempted to address McCollough in 2021 and 2022, specifically regarding his online activities.
The parents provided the evidence they reported to school officials, which included postings on Twitter, TikTok and Instagram. The Twitter page is now non-existent, and the Instagram account is now set as a private page, although the parents contend that was not the case at the time of the complaint.
Warning: Explicit language and images.
One Instagram video shows McCollough receiving a lap dance. Another on TikTok shows McCollough getting into a physical altercation with a man at a local bar while he was doing a singing drag performance. Another video shows McCollough describing the event, saying he was taking off his nails and rings to “fight this bitch.”
On Twitter, McCollough also boasted about being drunk on a school night. Another tweet read, “’Open your mind and your ass’ never a dull moment with straight boys.”
Several parents were appalled by McCollough's behavior and contacted the school directly and through the anonymous reporting student safety software “Say Something.” Some communications shared by the parents between school employees showed that school employees responded to the parents but did not detail any actions taken against McCollough.
ACS Human Resources director Jason Lowe responded to a series of McCollough’s social media postings in one exchange by telling a parent, “While further explanation will not be available, appropriate protocol for this concern will be followed.”
The same parent pushed for further elucidation from other ACS employees. After contacting Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum Wes Gordon and asking if any action had been taken against McCollough, Gordon responded, "We do not share personnel matters, including actions taken with employees.”
One parent, who spoke to 1819 News on condition of anonymity, said she was made aware of McCollough’s online behavior after her sixth-grade daughter was watching a video of him doing a “strip tease” on her school-provided tablet.
“I was wondering why my daughter was sharing this video of this strip tease of a drag queen. After I found out it was a teacher, I just kept digging," she said.
“I went through TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, all of it," she continued. "I also found those podcasts back in 2021, and I recorded all of it. So the same podcasts that came out recently, I already brought it up with the school board and Sarah Armstrong, the [Drake Middle School] principal three years ago and nothing was done.”
The parent also said she “got nowhere” with Lowe and was directed to speak with the school’s attorney, Patrick Davidson.
“I talked with [Davidson]. I cried. I sat down across the table from him. He told me that, unless they have a physical complaint from a student, like, it’s going to take this guy touching a student or sexual actions with a student, or students come forward. He said that. He said, ‘This is unfortunate, but this is the way that it is; we have to wait until something physically happens.’ And that just broke my heart. Like, I kept saying, ‘There’s got to be some code of ethics or something for these children.’ I mean, I thought teachers had to have beer in a dixie cup if they were going to post it.”
1819 News Reached out to multiple people in leadership at ACS. None responded in the days following.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email craig.monger@1819news.com.
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