Matt Kargol, an art teacher at Oskaloosa High School, could be fired as early as next week for an inflammatory social media post about the assassination of conservative pundit Charlie Kirk on Wednesday.
Oskaloosa Superintendent Mike Fisher told Radio Iowa Kargol’s post violated the district’s social media policies. “We had over a thousand contacts of emails, phone calls, text messages, social media traffic reaching out to us very upset,” Fisher says. “We definitely knew we had a disruption at the school, so it’s something we have to handle aligned with our policy and our vision culture.”
The Oskaloosa school board held a special meeting Thursday to discuss Kargol’s possible termination. Congresswoman Marianette Miller-Meeks, a Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, shared an image on social media that showed Fisher recommending to the board that Kargol be fired effective September 17th. Kargol was placed on administrative leave on Thursday.
Fisher told Radio Iowa the situation could be damaging for students. “If speech begins to impede on the learning environment, that can cause major issues that we have to deal with, the employee,” Fisher said.
Under Iowa law, Kargol may ask that the hearing be private or for a delay of up to 40 days.
The Iowa Department of Education says there are several reports of disturbing and reprehensible comments regarding Kirk’s death that were allegedly made by school personnel. House Speaker Pat Grassley says if schools don’t take action to respond to these cases, the legislature will. State Representative Austin Harris, a Republican from Moulton, is chairman of the panel that drafts education spending bills and he says any school that continues to employ individuals who endorsed Kirk’s assassination will face severe consequences.
