Image Credit: Google Earth & Canva
Tennessee Conservative News [By Paula Gomes] –
A teacher employed by Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) since 2004 was fired last week after reports that he took photos of students and used artificial intelligence (AI) to alter them and create videos without consent.
The MNPS Board of Education met last Tuesday and voted unanimously to terminate Mario Mumphrey who was a tenured exceptional education teacher at Nashville Big Picture High School. District leaders had called for Mumphrey’s dismissal.
In a dismissal letter dated July 7th, Superintendent Dr. Adrienne Battle described his actions as “unprofessional conduct [conduct unbecoming ot a member of the teaching profession].” Mumphrey allegedly took photos and videos of multiple students in class and then used AI without permission to alter the images and to also create videos of students which made them uncomfortable and that they found inappropriate.
Some of the videos, dating back to October 2025, showed students dancing inappropriately, while some of the images were altered to show students in personal or family situations that were false. One student stated that Mumphrey created images that made students into cartoon or “teddy bear style” versions of themselves.
According to dismissal records, Mumphrey shared the content he created with other students – to an entire class on one occasion – and also texted students outside of school hours. In his text messages, Mumphrey inquired about the location of students, becoming angry if he did not receive quick responses. He was also reported as putting himself in the middle of personal conversations regarding sexual intercourse that his students were taking part in and for making inappropriate comments.
Nashville Big Picture High School Principal Brenda Diaz reported the allegations to both the Metro Nashville Police Department and to the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services (DCS) after speaking with multiple students who had concerns. An active DCS investigation is ongoing.
MNPS has a policy that outlines expectations for staff that use AI. The AI Graphic Creation Guidelines prohibit employees from uploading education records, names, photographs, or any other personally identifying information of students into AI tools. The guidance also forbids employees from generating AI images or videos of MNPS students. However, the dismissal letter cited other district policy violations rather than citing the AI guidance.
In the dismissal letter, Battle stated that she had no choice but to seek Mumphrey’s termination. The letter noted that he had previously been suspended for three days in January for having inappropriate physical contact with a student, as well as inappropriate student communication and insubordination. There were also counseling memorandums from 2023 and 2024 in Mumphrey’s employee file.
Under the district’s established teacher dismissal process, Mumphrey will have an opportunity to appeal his dismissal.
A teacher or any school employee taking photos or videos of students is of great concern with the ability of AI to substantially alter the original content into something reprehensible.
We recently reported that an elementary school janitor was accused of making child sexual abuse material (CSAM) in Hamilton County after digitally altering an image of an adult female employed at Daisy Elementary School, along with two male children. All appeared to be pantless as a result of the photo being altered with AI.
According to the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, a search of 28-year-old Zackary Nelson’s home resulted in the seizure of numerous electronic devices. Investigators found nearly 4,000 digitally altered photos and videos of children and adults. Authorities state that more than 100 of the images had been manipulated to portray children engaging in explicit sexual acts in various stages of nudity.
Additional Sources:
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
One Response
Yup, “education” is terminally infested with lucifer’s accursed vile dimmercraps.