Homo/Transphobic "Pastor" Barry McKeen, Grace Community Church, Grace Christian School. Valrico, Florida

Barry McKeen, Administrator Grace Christian School (Valrico, Florida)

Rebecca McKeen, Director of Institutional Advancement, Grace Christian School (Valrico, Florida)

 

Another embarrassment from Liberty University, Barry McKeen, leads Grace Christian School in Valrico, Florida. 

Grace Christian School 3500 N Valrico Rd. Valrico, Florida, 33594 

Founded in 1974 by Bob Gustafson. According to his biography on the school website, Bob played baseball for Rollins College before being drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals. Bob also became an assistant coach for Princeton University. During a game, a baseball hit Gustafson below his left eye. According to the story, Bob remembered a passage of scripture ("Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season..." 2 Timothy 4:2) while in the emergency room that night. That is when he decided to become a preacher.

After graduating from seminary in 1970, Bob and his wife Dana founded the Grace Community Church in Brandon, Florida. By 1974, Bob founded Grace Christian School, a K-12 born-again evangelical/baptist hybrid private school. 

In 1991, Bob's oldest daughter, Rebecca, married Barry McKeen. Before Bob Gustafson's death in 2015, Barry McKeen was named leader of both Grace Community Church and Grace Christian School. 

Homophobic Administrator, Segregated Schools

Barry came to our attention after NBCNews posted a story about Grace Christian School. McKeen sent an email to the parent of the students at the school. In his letter, McKeen falsely quoted Biblical Scripture to inform parents that Grace Christian School no longer allowed any member of the LGBTQIA+ community to attend the school. Further, McKeen states that all students will be referred to by "the gender of their birth certificate." It should be noted that the National Institutes of Health defines gender as a biological construct. Sex refers to the biological differences between males and females. 

After the NBC article went viral, Berry decided to double down in a video posted to Facebook.

Interestingly, Barry wasn't as harsh towards terminated fifth-grade teacher Stephen Robb. According to WFLA News,  Robb was charged with six counts of possession of child pornography. 

Grace Christian School Accepts Tax Payer Vouchers

In 2021, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis expanded the state's educational voucher system. Public schools are funded by both federal and state tax money. In Florida, the state funds schools through property taxes. DeSantis expanded the voucher program to include taxes collected through tobacco and alcohol sales. Vouchers attach a sum of taxpayer money to a student. The child can take this voucher to offset the cost of tuition at a private school. The downside is that the voucher does not cover the full tuition in most cases and takes money away from public schools.

A search of Florida's Department of Education's registry of schools, Grace Christian School, participates in the Florida Tax Credit (FTC) voucher program. 

The Florida Legislature wrote into the statute that schools receiving FTC vouchers must abide by 42. USC s. 2000d (Civil Rights Act of 1963). 

Sadly for Barry McKeen, he forgot about all the subsections of the Civil Rights Act of 1963, including 200d-7, Civil rights remedies equalization.

For anyone living in the Valrico, Florida area that might want to ask questions, if Barry isn't at school or church, you can probably find him here.