Cobb County School District Superintendent Chris Ragsdale said Thursday that two employees who had been placed on administrative leave for their comments about the death of Charlie Kirk are no longer with the district.
During remarks at a Thursday Cobb Board of Education meeting, Ragsdale said the two individuals, whom he didn’t identify, “are no longer with the district.”
He didn’t say whether they were fired or resigned.
The district said Monday that an unspecified number of employees were placed on leave while it investigated allegations that they posted comments on social media “appearing to celebrate the death of Charlie Kirk.”
The district also didn’t detail the messages of the post or identify the platforms where they were published.
Kirk was a conservative political activist who was shot and killed Sept. 10 while making an appearance at Utah Valley University.
Making multiple references to school shootings, Ragsdale said that “good educators must and do abhor school shootings.” While he said that “this is not in the vast majority of how Cobb school members act,” some condoned the Kirk killing in violation of district policies.
He didn’t mention what those policies were in his remarks, but the district has a social media policy for employees that also has provisions for what employees are permitted to post on their personal and social media accounts.
Among the provisions, employees are refrained from posting material that “displays inappropriate personal information, videos, or pictures that impair the employee’s professionalism and reputation” and “harms the reputation of or discredits the District.”
Ragsdale said that many of the complaints about the postings about Kirk’s murder came from other teachers, and that the ensuing investigations have been “incredibly disruptive” to the educational process.
He said teachers are committed to “a life of service, sacrificing much of one’s present for someone else’s future.” He mentioned a Virginia Tech professor who was killed during a 2007 mass shooting, as he blocked a door allowing his students to escape.
Ragsdale said that teachers “are heroes in a school shooting event. They should never, ever be the cheerleaders for a school shooting.”
The Cobb County Democratic Party on Wednesday blasted the district’s decision to place the employees on leave, saying it smacked of hypocrisy and that “Mr. Kirk’s killing has been used as an excuse by MAGA to persecute anyone who doesn’t adhere to their beliefs.”
On Thursday, Ragsdale said that the disciplinary action isn’t about political party or religious affiliation, but is “entirely a question of good and evil.”
Related:
- Eastvalley ES student qualifies for Augusta youth golf final
- Cobb Democratic Party blasts ‘unfair punishment of teachers’
- Cobb school employees on leave over Charlie Kirk messages
- East Cobb students plant American flags on 9/11 anniversary
- East Cobb students named National Merit semifinalists
- Lawmaker files Title IX athletics complaint against Pope HS
- Dodgen MS chamber orchestra to perform at The Midwest Clinic
- Cobb school district sells former Eastvalley ES properties
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