austin-Area School District Rejects Staff Member’s comments Following Charlie Kirk‘s Death
The Hutto school district publicly rejected comments made by a staff member on thier personal social media account last week referencing the death of Charlie Kirk, stating “First Amendment meets second Amendment.” While the post on thursday did not specifically name Kirk, Superintendent Jeni neatherlin issued a statement clarifying that the comments do not reflect the district’s values or beliefs.
“We expect staff to maintain professionalism, both in person adn online,” neatherlin wrote in the statement. “Let me be clear, we do not tolerate comments condoning hate or violence from anyone representing our District.”
The district did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
The controversy comes as the Texas Education agency (TEA) announced monday it was investigating at least 180 complaints of school teachers and staff posting negative comments about Kirk. This examination followed a warning from TEA Commissioner Mike Morath to superintendents and teachers that “reprehensible and inappropriate content on social media” regarding Kirk’s assassination could violate the Educator’s Code of Ethics.
The TEA stated it would recommend the firing and certification suspension of any teacher found to have violated the code.
Other educators and school-related workers have also faced scrutiny following Kirk’s death. Georgetown school board trustee Stephanie Blanck apologized for a negative comment she made about Kirk under a story about a shooting at a high school in Colorado on September 10, in which two students were shot and the gunman died.
Blanck commented on a photo listing “Things to remember about Charlie Kirk,” concluding with the statement: “No one should be shot,not even Charlie Kirk,but it doesn’t change the fact that he made a profitable career out of spreading hate toward his fellow Americans.”
“In my frustration over the tragic school shooting in colorado, I posted without thinking carefully, and I recognise that what I wrote was objectionable,” she wrote in a post on Friday. “I deeply regret my words and the hurt they may have caused.”
Last week, officials in the Klein district fired a football coach for his remarks about kirk’s killing. The Houston Chronicle reported the coach commented on a post about Kirk that he didn’t “get why anyone is sad” because Kirk “was a horrible (expletive) human being.”
Charlie Kirk, 31, was the CEO of conservative advocacy group Turning Point USA. He was shot and killed on September 10 while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.
