Thursday’s meeting of the Columbia School Board saw a packed room and a bevy of speakers, the vast majority of whom were there to speak in support of a Columbia High School English teacher who resigned following an apparent suspension prompted by outrage to a post she made on social media.

The Facebook post from Mary Adams partially quotes conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who died last Wednesday in a shooting in Utah, by saying “Empathy is a made up New Age term that does a lot of damage.”

It is not yet confirmed whether this post was made prior to or in the wake of Kirk’s death.

Though the circumstances surrounding Adams’ suspension are unclear, her resignation was tendered in the past few days and was accepted by the school board Thursday evening as part of its consent agenda.

The board opened the floor to public comment early in the meeting, with Columbia Superintendent of Schools Chris Grode speaking just before.

“As most people know, there’s been quite a bit of discussion regarding Columbia School District and social media,” Grode said. “These situations are difficult, because we do not speak about personnel or student issues, and with the absence of any comment, that void often gets filled with opinions and conjecture.

“Our schools do a very good job of separating politics and education. We know that freedom of speech stops at the schoolhouse doors. Our employees and our students, we’re all human. That means we all have our own individual opinions, and, in our nation, we have the freedom of speech for those opinions. Most importantly, though, when we disagree, we need civil discourse. That’s key. When our students, our employees, when we violate that and a disruption in school is realized, we do address it.”

Columbia School Board President Greg Meyer also addressed the crowd following public comment, thanking and encouraging folks for sharing their opinions, noting the names of Kirk and many other political figures can evoke strong emotions both for and against and reiterating that “politics has no place in our classrooms.”

“Our responsibility is to provide a safe, supportive and respectful learning environment for every student, no matter what their background, beliefs or viewpoint may be,” Meyer said. “We must remain focused on what unites us, preparing our students to think critically, to be kind to one another and make them responsible citizens. That’s our mission, and it’s far too important to be overshadowed by partisan politics.”

Meyer further explained that, given federal and state law on board discussion of personnel matters, the board would be unable to offer information on Adams, her suspension and her departure.

He did note the teacher’s departure was not the result of board action or direction, adding that “the board has no legal authority to force a resignation or fire without due process.”

Two school board members, Naureen Frierdich Kelly Meurer, did not attend the meeting.

Throughout the public comment portion of the meeting, a dozen individuals approached the board to discuss the matter of Adams’ departure from the district, with all but one speaking in support of her, praising her contributions to CHS and defending her conduct.

Among those individuals were district parents, current and former CHS students and others from in and out of the community.

Great emphasis was placed on her rapport with students, with supporters stressing to the board how much a loss her resignation is given the success she’s had with students and her role as a teacher of several AP classes.

Regarding the apparent controversy surrounding Adams’ Facebook post, speakers emphasized how she kept politics out of the classroom and argued against the alleged censorship against her.

According to the Facebook group Monroe County IL News, the backlash against this CHS teacher was not entirely due to the posting of her partial Kirk quote but rather the subsequent posting of a cover photo that stated: “If you mess with me, you better run for your life because my husband is coming after you and Hell’s coming with him.”

Monroe County IL News lobbied group members to share concerns about this teacher by contacting school board president Meyer directly by email.

To watch a video of Thursday’s board meeting, click here.

Read more in next week’s issue of the Republic-Times newspaper.