On Friday I made a comment in a zoom group chat that was deemed “Inappropriate”. I’m going to post the comment below, so be forewarned if you are particularly sensitive.
Here’s verbatim the complaint:
“On Friday, August 14, at approximately 8:26 am during a District wide zoom meeting you posted the following statement in a zoom group chat, ‘I hope the memorial video for the teachers we lose to the virus are as well done as this one!’
During our conference, I announced it was a very inappropriate and unprofessional post. You begin to express your concerns of why the District is choosing to start school in person and why they are changing their minds when “ALL” the districts are going virtual. I corrected you by saying not “ALL” as I shared some districts that were doing exactly what [our district] is doing. You restated your comment to “the majority”. I mentioned that it does not matter what other districts are doing, but [our district] is doing everything, we can to keep you safe and if you are not comfortable with the situation, then you may want to reconsider why you are here. It was at that point I directed you to go home and complete the virtual day of learning at home.
I emphasized the number one priority of a staff member on this campus would be professionalism and this was certainly not conduct that is professional of a teacher during a District wide zoom meeting with almost 700 employees in attendance.
Our expectations are that you will improve as a professional educator in the specific areas of professionalism and public posting of comments and definitely not repeat this type of behavior. However, as a direct result of this behavior, I feel it is necessary to reprimand you formally and to direct that a copy of this incident be filed in your permanent records.”
Now I can decide to file a grievance to try to expunge my record or not. Now, I know that the real problem they have with my comment is that I called them out and didn’t tow the line. I was told that, I have “options”. They implied my options were to keep quiet and keep my job, or go find another one. I told them we’ll see in 6 months how this all works out and whether things turn out better or worse than they are now.