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Parents and community members urge investigation and firings after Anchorage educators’ social media posts
Summary
Public commenters at the Anchorage School Board meeting on Sept. 16 urged immediate investigations and firings after alleging district employees posted social-media messages celebrating an assassination and calling for violence, and they cited Anchorage municipal ethics rules and district policy.
Multiple members of the public used the Anchorage School Board’s public-comment period on Sept. 16 to demand investigations and disciplinary action against Anchorage School District employees they said posted social-media messages celebrating the assassination of a public figure and calling for violence.
Speakers called on the district to enforce its professional-conduct expectations and the Municipality of Anchorage code of ethics. Dawn Bockelman, presenting herself as a parent and community member, told the board she had seen public social-media posts she described as welcoming a heart attack on the sitting president and calling for his assassination and urged "immediate removal from our children's classrooms and permanent termination of employment." Ashley Kovalinski read district policy language on professional conduct and municipal ethics and asked what steps the district would take.
Other speakers, including Stacy Lang and Priscilla Hurley, urged decisive action, characterizing the posts as hate speech, advocacy of violence, or celebration of murder. Priscilla Hurley cited a news report and said “so far, at least 21 educators have been let go or placed under investigation,” attributing that figure to NPR; she asked the board to enforce ethics and conduct rules.
Those testifying characterized the behavior as incompatible with work in schools and asked the board and administration to investigate and terminate employees found to have violated policy. Several speakers emphasized neutrality and professionalism in classrooms and said the public must be able to trust educators to treat all students fairly.
The board took no immediate disciplinary action during the meeting. Superintendent Dr. Bridal said he had no report on the matter to present at that time and that his immediate focus had been other items he covered in his update. Members of the board reminded the public that formal complaints with named allegations are needed for administrative investigation and that the district follows established personnel and investigative processes.
What to watch: the administration did not announce any personnel actions at the meeting; public commenters asked that instances be investigated and that any confirmed violations of municipal or district codes be acted on. The district did not identify employees by name or provide its own statement of findings during the public-comment period.
