By Staff Reporter |

A transgender high school teacher received a three-year suspension of his teaching certificate for multiple alleged offenses, which included discussing his sex life and conducting private storage closet excursions with students.

Erin Quigley — a man who identifies as a woman — up until recently taught sports medicine for Amphitheater High School at Amphitheater Public Schools (APS) in Tucson. 

In response to an investigation launched last year by the Arizona State Board of Education (ASBE), Quigley agreed to a negotiated settlement in which Quigley’s teaching certificate would be suspended for three years. Quigley also agreed to take the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification Prevention and Correction course.

ASBE’s case file on Quigley noted that he gave a student a gold necklace under the pretext of being a “secret admirer” and texted that student to discuss his personal life. According to ASBE, Quigley regularly gave out his personal phone number to students. On at least one occasion, Quigley was reported to have given his home address as well when he invited the entire class to his house for a Thanksgiving dinner.

The student gifted the necklace also reported that Quigley publicly discussed his sex life with students, offering details about how he had sex with many women in the past. Quigley also reportedly encouraged his students to share their sex lives — such as whether they were sexually active or if they needed Quigley to buy condoms for them — and other private information with him. 

Another student in Quigley’s class reported that Quigley would periodically leave his classroom to take several other students into a storage closet for up to 20 minutes at a time, leaving the other students unattended. 

Quigley also reportedly asked students to hook him up with their “hot aunts.”

In one reported instance, Quigley participated in a prank requested by another student in which Quigley told a female student that he heard two heartbeats through his stethoscope on her midsection, and offered to buy her a pregnancy test. 

Quigley also reportedly divulged details of the abuse he experienced from his father, as well as the gender transition processes he had yet to undertake. 

ASBE further reported that Quigley managed multiple school clubs granting him off-campus time and access to his students. 

ASBE began investigating Quigley after receiving a report of unprofessional conduct from the high school’s general counsel and associate to the superintendent last January. 

According to a feature by Northern Arizona University (NAU), Quigley received his Career and Technical Education (CTE) Bachelor of Science in Education (BSED) in 2015, followed by a CTE graduate certificate in 2016. 

However, neither of NAU’s commencement programs from 2015 (May, December) listed any CTE BSED candidates named “Erin Quigley,” nor do they list any individuals with the last name “Quigley.” NAU ceased digitizing its full commencement programs after 2015.

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