By Mark Woolsey

An apparently small group of Cobb  County educators faces disciplinary action after allegedly making inflammatory statements on social media regarding slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

In a news release, the district said parents had notified them that a number of posts by district employees had appeared to celebrate Kirk’s death.

A sniper’s bullet claimed Kirk’s life as he spoke last week to an outdoor crowd at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. A 22-year-old suspect has been arrested.

The release went on to call such posts “incredibly rare instances” and said that they “do not reflect the outstanding professionalism demonstrated by the vast majority of Cobb educators.”

“Posts that celebrate the murder of an innocent person by a school shooter are unprofessional and disruptive to the school environment. We expect Cobb educators to help students learn and grow, which requires limiting disruptions to their classrooms and school,” the release also stated.

Jeff Hubbard, the President of the Cobb County Association of Educators, said as of mid-Monday afternoon he’d been made aware of “fewer than five” cases.  He said that to his knowledge, all of them involve classroom teachers who have been put on administrative leave.

Cobb officials affirm that any employees showing evidence of involvement have been placed on that hold, won’t be in the classroom and will not be allowed to interact with parents or students during the interim.

Hubbard indicates this spells out the need for caution and thinking twice.

“I did send out a mass email today(Monday) basically cautioning them (members) that while personal and professional emotions are running high, we just need to be mindful of what we put on social media.

“We’ve encouraged our members that for their emotional well being and their professional standing to step back and take a break from social media,” he said.

CCSD  officials said in the release that each case will be thoroughly investigated, and appropriate personnel action taken.

There’s no word on what kind of punishment might be meted out eventually, but Hubbard notes the Cobb district utilizes progressive discipline, which can range from a letter of warning or direction up to and including termination. He anticipates the convening of a Human Resources Department investigative hearing as part of the process.

That procedure played out in the firing of classroom teacher Katie Rindele, terminated in 2023 after reading a book with a nonbinary protagonist to a group of students.

District officials added. “We will also report the matter to the Georgia Professional Standards Commission, the ethics board for Georgia educators, requesting appropriate action against their Georgia teaching license.”

CCSD officials could not be reached for comment.