WESTVILLE — The Metropolitan School District of New Durham Township said it had "gladly accepted" the resignation of a middle school English and language arts teacher following a social media post in which she celebrated the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Juliana Michelbrink, who, according to her LinkedIn profile, has taught at Westville Middle School since the start of the 2024-2025 school year, shared a post to Facebook Wednesday that announced Kirk's death, writing above it, "I love receiving good news!" Michelbrink added a smiling emoji with hearts surrounding it at the end.
The post, made before the school day started Wednesday, immediately drew intense backlash, angering dozens who called for her termination.
During the school day, Michelbrink responded to a commenter, writing: "Good news that my people and other minorities aren't being targeted because of this man's negative influence! Standing up for him is hypocritical. He mocked many deaths in his time. You and others just choose to ignore that. Just as this post entails. Maybe just stay out of my business if you're mad? Just a thought. Bye!"
School officials became aware of the posts Thursday and announced on Friday that Michelbrink was no longer employed with the district.
"The message shared by the former employee does not align with our values and the standards we hold for our staff," Superintendent of MSD of New Durham Township Brian Ton said in a letter to Westville Schools families Friday.
In a statement Thursday, Ton said Michelbrink's remarks "in no way reflect the mission, values or beliefs of our school community."
Ton told The Times Michelbrink was placed on administrative leave because the comment had been made during the school day, a violation of the district's social media policies for employees.
Michelbrink resigned "with her worries about the aftermath from comments she had made," Ton said in an email to The Times.
"I feel her return would have place(ed) a negative impact on the educational environment for our students and I gladly accepted her resignation," Ton said.
According to the district's social media use policy, "employees are prohibited from posting or engaging in communication that violates State or Federal law, Board policies or administrative guidelines."
Michelbrink appeared to have deleted her Facebook account by Friday afternoon. She could not be reached for comment for this story.
The school district has already posted a job listing for an English teacher at Westville Middle School.
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita on Friday called on Hoosiers to expose educators who "celebrate or rationalize" Kirk's assassination by reporting them via the state's so-called "Eyes on Education" portal.
"These individuals must be held accountable," Rokita said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. "They have no place teaching our students."
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