Acting Superintendent Ashley told the Barrington School Committee the district has opened an outside investigation after a social-media post stirred widespread concern among students, parents and community members.

In public comment, dozens of residents urged the committee to take stronger action than the paid leave already in place and to remove the staff member from duties around students. Commenters said the post condoned recent political violence and made some students feel unsafe; several speakers identified themselves as parents of conservative students and said their children felt targeted or unsafe at school.

The committee chair described the matter as not on the published agenda for discussion but said the committee would permit public comment and that the administration had circulated a statement telling the community an investigation is underway. Acting Superintendent Ashley told the body, "we will be conducting outside of this teaching. I can't discuss the details, but I will share that, as we all know, we hold ourselves and our students the highest professional seniors, and we wanna respect that process." The administration confirmed the staff member is on leave pending the investigation.

Several public commenters framed their appeals around student safety and community values. Anna Bridal told the committee that she was concerned about rhetoric that appeared to "condone or insinuate that the murder of Charlie Kirk was justified," and asked the committee to take a strong stand against political violence. Other speakers, including Molly Magnuson, Jared Ryan and Heather Ryan, called for removal rather than unpaid leave. A Barrington High School senior who spoke at the meeting said many students and alumni were deeply affected and wanted the district to act.

Committee members cautioned about personnel rules and the district’s public-comment policy, which bars naming individual employees during appearance. The chair repeatedly reminded speakers they could address policy or themes without identifying staff by name.

No formal personnel action was taken by the committee at the meeting; the district said it intends to put a motion to hire an outside independent investigator on the upcoming Monday agenda. The committee also moved earlier in the meeting to seal certain executive session minutes under a separate agenda action, a procedural step the chair said related to sensitive personnel matters.

The district did not provide a timeline for the investigation at the meeting and said it could not discuss specific findings while the review is underway. The administration urged the public to rely on official updates rather than social media and said it would communicate through the district’s established channels.