A Columbia High School teacher’s resignation sparked a flurry of public comments at a school board meeting Thursday night. The story the speakers told — that the teacher faced backlash after allegedly posting on social media about Charlie Kirk — parallels those cropping up across the nation.
The majority of people who spoke during the public comment portion of Thursday’s school board meeting spoke in support of of Columbia High School English teacher Mary Adams. They said she was harassed online and unjustly suspended for sharing a post of a partial quote from Trump-ally Charlie Kirk, who was killed earlier this month, on her personal Facebook account.
The school board accepted Adams’ resignation during their meeting.
“We lost Ms. Adams because of what I can only call a group of adult bullies gossiping and spreading rumors in the community — congratulations,” said CHS senior Jonah Velnosky, who considers Adams one of the best teachers at the school.
“I am disappointed in the community of Columbia for harboring such a hostile environment, and I am in awe of how little the school board did to protect the teachers that it claims to represent.”
From what was said during the public comment portion of the school board meeting, Adams’ story is the latest in a wave of educators and other professionals nationwide being disciplined for social media posts or comments regarding Kirk’s death deemed inappropriate. As many mentioned at Thursday’s meeting, this trend has launched broader questions about free speech.
The Belleville News-Democrat reached out to Adams and she declined to comment. The BND could not locate Facebook profile to verify apparent screenshots of Adams’ posts.
Columbia School District 4 Board President Greg Meyer told the Belleville News-Democrat that he could not confirm if Adams was suspended. He stressed that the board did not take any action on anything regarding Adams’ employment, they merely approved her resignation.
As Meyer told meeting attendees, state and federal laws prohibit the board and administration from sharing specifics on personnel matters, “even to correct misinformation.”
“What we can say is that this was not a decision made or directed by the Board of Education,” Meyer said. “The board’s role is limited … to accepting or acknowledging resignations once they’re formally submitted, we do not make or compel those decisions. In fact, the board has no legal authority to force resignations or fire without due process.”
The nature of Adams’ alleged post is up for debate in the community. At Thursday’s meeting, community members questioned what was wrong with Adams sharing Kirk’s own words, with Brenda Lanman calling it a “harmless quote.”
Kellie Graves, a Columbia school bus driver whose family has attended Columbia schools for generations, said she is a fan of Kirk’s. She said she wasn’t clear on Adams’ situation, but saw talk of it on Facebook.
“But I know one thing — we have to start standing up for our kids, for our nation and we cannot condone death,” she said at Thursday’s meeting.
Laughing at, or making light of, Kirk’s death would be wrong, Graves said. Another meeting attendee responded to Graves, saying Adams posted the quote before Kirk’s death was announced.
Zac Scheetz, a Waterloo father who did not attend Thursday’s school board meeting, did not agree with Adams’ alleged post. He said that, from his understanding, Adams later made her Facebook cover photo an image that said “If you mess with me, you better run for your life, because my husband is coming after you and hell’s coming with him.”
“When she started putting violence out there, that’s where I drew the line,” Scheetz said. “Any issue, regardless of what side of the fence you’re on, should not result in violence.”
This second alleged post was not mentioned at Thursday’s board meeting.
Charlie Kirk post raises questions of free speech
Multiple community members who spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting said the reaction to Adams’ alleged post infringed on her constituional rights.
“Whatever happened to our constitutional amendment number one, Freedom of Speech?” Columbia resident Patrick K. Kelly asked the board. “She never hurt anyone, but she must have hurt somebody’s feelings. This sure sounds like censorship to me. Shame on you.”
Many stressed Adams’ alleged post was made on her personal Facebook page and that she took great care to keep politics out of her classroom.
Scheetz told the BND that he views teachers as public figures, and that means they need to be more careful about expressing views in any public setting — including social media, because students look up to them. He said he personally knows educators who do not have social media accounts for this reason.
“Teachers are held to a higher standard because she’s teaching our kids,” Scheetz said, stating that he thinks Adams should have been fired.
The Illinois Education Association, the state affiliate of the Columbia teachers’ union, did not comment specifically on Adams’ situation. However, in a statement sent to the BND, IEA President Al Llorens said educators have the right “to speak out on matters of public concern.”
“Like all Americans, teachers, higher educators and school support staff do not surrender their rights when they begin working at a school, college or university,” Llorens’ statement reads. “... Comments made by an educator on social media do not interfere with their professional responsibilities, compromise their ability to teach or create a hostile environment for students. Personal political expression outside of school hours, on personal time, is not a punishable offense.”
When addressing those who attended Thursday’s school board meeting, Meyer said “I firmly believe politics has no place in classrooms. Our responsibility is to provide a safe, supportive and respectful learning environment for every student, no matter what their background, beliefs or viewpoints may be.”
Parents and students say teacher leaving threatens academic success
Carrie Clayton, a former teacher in the district, said she believes small town gossip and harassment led to Adams’ resignation. In the public comment portion of the meeting Thursday, she said this creates a “climate of fear,” which can only exacerbate turnover struggles the district has long experienced.
Others who addressed the board applauded Adams’ dedication to her students’ success, and said she helped them with college admissions and scholarship essays, prepare for the ACT exam and ace AP exams.
These AP exams allow students to earn college credit before they graduate high school. Dana McClane said that for her daughter Molly, acing AP courses literally sets up her college career by allowing her to get enough classes out of the way so she can study abroad, and also take on a minor, on top of a rigorous nursing education.
“Education is a tool that nobody can take away from you, correct?” Molly addressed the board. “Because this school district has shown me this past week that is a lie. You’re taking away my ability to grow and become the person I want to be. Why? Because someone has different views than you? In turn, you’re showing all of your students this is the way they should react when there’s a disagreement.”
Editor's note: This story was originally published by the Belleville News-Democrat. Madison Lammert is a reporter for the BND, a news partner of St. Louis Public Radio.
