WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - A Wichita teacher who posted on Facebook about her concern over school reopening procedures was wrongly disciplined by the district, The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas says.
The ACLU asked the Wichita school district in a letter to rescind the reprimand, the Wichita Eagle reported. It said it is defending the teacher’s First Amendment rights, calling the district’s move a way of “weaponizing inapplicable policies as a pretext to censor them.”
A school district spokesperson said in an email it respects the teacher’s right to disagree with policies for the reopening of schools, as well as the teacher’s right to publicize those views on their own time in a manner consistent with the district’s policies.
At issue is a video recording the teacher made with her phone of a temperature check before entering the building showing her temperature was 93.9 degrees. The teacher later posted the video to document that the thermometer was not working properly and to express worries that the screening process was deficient.
Another person complained the video violated a policy which requires prior approval to use a concealed camera to record a student or employee.
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