NAPLES, N.Y. (WHAM) — Some parents are calling on the Naples Central School District to fire a staff member who the district said made multiple posts on his personal social media profile referencing the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
In a statement, Superintendent Kevin Swartz said many community members have expressed “concerns and outage related to these posts” by the employee, who is not being identified.
“NCS Community, Like so many of you, I was shocked and saddened to hear of the terrible tragedy that transpired yesterday in Utah, where Charlie Kirk was assassinated. Last evening, the district became aware that an NCS staff member made multiple posts to a personal social media site referencing this tragedy. Since that time, we have heard from many community members regarding concerns and outrage related to these posts. I want to be very direct in saying to you that all of your voices have been heard. It is comforting to know the NCS community values kindness, empathy, compassion, and civility. As a district, we stand with you in doing all we can to uphold these values which are essential to model for our students. In response to this matter, a formal investigation is underway, and the district will follow all established policies and procedures. The employee has been placed on leave pending the outcome of the investigation. As this involves a personnel matter, the district will make no further statements about this matter.”
“This is not a political event,” said parent Don Sutherland. “This is an event of right and wrong, and what’s ethically accepted in our public school system, this is not accepted at all.”
“We want to use this as an example,” added parent John Mickelsen. “So that outside of this incident, other people see that this is not acceptable.”
The Naples case was not the only one locally involving controversial posts over Kirk’s killing. Superintendent Merritt Holly of the LeRoy Central School District shared a letter with parents Friday, saying the district had become aware of “inappropriate” posts made by a teacher, who immediately expressed regret and deleted his social media account.
“Is losing your job worth the thing you’re about to post on social media?” Nicholas Marricco, senior associate with Tully Rinckey, PLLC, asked during an interview with 13WHAM Monday.
Marricco addressed the wave of social media discourse following the assassination of Kirk and the consequences of social media posts for certain employees.
For public employees, he said “there’s usually three things that the courts will look at.”
