First Amendment cited
Hamilton County Board of Education attorney Scott Bennett, who also serves in the same role for the Tullahoma City Schools, recently found himself in the middle of blowback from comments following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, according to online reports.
Tullahoma High School teacher Dr. Monica Blake-Beasley, after the activist’s death, “hearted” and commented on a social media post in which Kirk was termed a “racist, xenophobic, transphobic, Islamophobic, white nationalist mouthpiece.” Her comments included a vulgar meme and a suggestion Kirk “thought some deaths were necessary to keep the 2nd Amendment relevant but never thought it would be his own.”
After concerns over the post mounted in Coffee County, Tullahoma City Schools said the remarks were made in Blake-Beasley’s personal capacity, not as a representative of the schools, though it acknowledged “there are questions about professionalism.” Two weeks after the incident, Director of Schools Catherine Stephens issued a formal reprimand to Blake-Beasley, saying she used “grossly unprofessional language” that “is unbecoming to any member of the teaching profession.”
Tullahoma citizens later addressed the board, suggesting the punishment was too light and that she should be fired. Blake-Beasley termed the reprimand “unnecessarily severe” and said it set “a dangerous precedent by expecting educators to maintain an image of ‘professionalism’ at all times.”