By Katie Northcott, News Director
In a statement to Peterson Media Group on Oct. 14, Tullahoma High School (THS) Principal Dr. Greg English clarified his role in investigating the impact of a teacher’s comment under a Facebook post that expressed lack of empathy for Charlie Kirk after his assassination.
Some Tullahoma residents have been calling for Dr. Monica Blake-Beasley, a criminal justice teacher at THS, to be fired after she “hearted” and commented on a post calling Kirk “a racist, xenophobic, transphobic, Islamophobic, white nationalist mouthpiece.”
Blake-Beasley eventually received a formal reprimand for the language in a meme she shared in her comment. Read more about the reprimand here.
In a Facebook post to “Tullahoma Unfiltered” on Sept. 30, former Tullahoma Alderman Daniel Berry leveled an accusation that English had called citizens calling for Blake-Beasley’s firing “a small fringe group of barking dogs.” He brought up the allegations again in posts on Oct. 2 and Oct. 9, adding in the Oct. 2 post that English had allegedly said the situation would “blow over.”
“Think about how comfortably this was said. In front of staff who, obviously don’t all share his belief — but are too afraid to speak up for fear of retaliation,” Berry’s Sept. 30 post read. “That’s not leadership. That’s intimidation.”
Peterson Media Group (PMG) reached out to English on Oct. 13, asking him if he had made the statements Berry alleged. On Oct. 14, English confirmed that he held a THS faculty meeting on Sept. 29 but denied “making negative statements about outside stakeholders who expressed their opinions on social media.”
PMG asked Berry if he could supply evidence that English had made the alleged statements. Berry claimed his information had come from three teachers. He said that these teachers were afraid to come forward due to fear of losing their jobs. English also said he could not supply PMG with a recording or copy of his statements at the Sept. 29 staff meeting.
In addition to asking about Berry’s accusations, PMG asked English about the methods he used to investigate Blake-Beasley’s comment’s impact on THS.
“I based my evaluation on any measurable or observable disruptions to the operation of the school each day, and these were minimal,” English said.
He said he personally received and responded to three phone calls and five emails during the week following Blake-Beasley’s social media comment. Two of these interactions were with current THS parents and one was with a current THS student.
The full text of English’s statement to PMG is copied below:
I appreciate you reaching out to me with your questions about the allegations and my evaluation process. I did not make either of the statements you have cited. I did hold a THS faculty meeting on the afternoon of September 29th. I felt it was appropriate to educate the faculty and staff on their First Amendment rights as educators, especially regarding how their speech outside of school can potentially impact their employment. I provided factual information during that short meeting and did not make any negative statements about outside stakeholders who expressed their opinions on social media.
I based my evaluation on any measurable or observable disruptions to the operation of the school each day, and these were minimal. During the week following Dr. Blake-Beasley’s social media posts, I personally received and responded to three phone calls and five emails of concern regarding the posts. Only two of these interactions were with current THS parents, and none of them had students enrolled in one of Dr. Blake-Beasley’s classes. In addition to the phone calls and emails from adults, I responded to one email of concern from a current THS student. That student was not one of Dr. Blake-Beasley’s students.
Ultimately, there have been no measurable or observable disruptions to the operation of the school. All classes have been taking place as scheduled. No schedule change requests have been made to remove any current students from a class that Dr. Blake-Beasley teaches, and none of my faculty members have expressed any concerns regarding their colleague. I have regularly checked in with our school secretary, assistant principals, counselors, and Dr. Blake-Beasley during this time to see if they are hearing anything that I am not. Their experiences have been the same as mine.
One of the more significant observations I made during the week following the social media posts was that, without fail, every time I checked in with Dr. Blake-Beasley, at least one student would approach her to say hello, give her a hug, or express their appreciation for her and what she means to them.
Since the board meeting on September 23rd, there has been nothing significant or noticeable. The majority of the concerns received were in the week immediately following the social media posts.
