Latest news with #HanoverPublicSchools
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Supreme Court declines fired teacher's free speech challenge over anti-transgender TikToks
The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a Massachusetts teacher's First Amendment challenge concerning her termination for making and reposting antitransgender TikToks. Former Hanover Public Schools teacher Kari MacRae stressed the TikToks were made before she applied to the job and urged the court to take up her case to protect public employees' free speech rights. One post condemned Rachel Levine, the highest-ranking transgender official in the Biden administration. Another boasted a panda bear photo alongside text that read, 'Dude, racism is stupid. I am black, white, and Asian. But everyone loves me.' 'I feel bad for parents nowadays,' another post read. 'You have to be able to explain the birds & the bees . . . The bees & the bees . . . The birds & the birds . . . The birds that used to be bees . . . The bees that used to be birds . . . The birds that look like bees . . . Plus bees that look like birds but still got a stinger!!!' No justice publicly dissented from the decision to turn away her appeal. But in a seven-page statement, Justice Clarence Thomas said he had 'serious concerns' about the lower court's approach that sided against the teacher. 'It undermines core First Amendment values to allow a government employer to adopt an institutional viewpoint on the issues of the day and then, when faced with a dissenting employee, portray this disagreement as evidence of disruption,' Thomas wrote. 'And, the problem is exacerbated in the case of an employee such as MacRae, who expressed her views only outside the workplace and before her employment.' However, Thomas indicated he agreed with the court's decision to turn away MacRae's petition, saying it didn't squarely challenge those broader issues. The justice signaled he would take up a future case to make clear public employers can not use 'unsupported claims of disruption in particular to target employees who express disfavored political views.' After her firing, MacRae unsuccessfully ran for Massachusetts state Senate in both 2022 and 2024. She's running again for election next year. MacRae was represented by Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group. 'This case could not be a more perfect vehicle for the Court to determine the rights of the tens-of-millions aspiring teachers who are participating in public affairs and the four million public-school teachers who spoke on matters of public concern before they were employed,' the group wrote in its petition. The school district insisted the lower ruling rejecting MacRae's appeal was in harmony with Supreme Court precedents on public school teachers' free speech rights. 'There is no question that the TikTok memes violated the District's core values and mission statement, as found by both the District Court and First Circuit,' the school district wrote in court filings. The order comes weeks after the Supreme Court declined to hear a student's challenge to his school district blocking him from wearing a T-shirt to class that reads, 'There are only two genders.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
30-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Supreme Court declines fired teacher's free speech challenge over anti-transgender TikToks
The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a Massachusetts teacher's First Amendment challenge concerning her termination for making and reposting anti-transgender TikToks. Former Hanover Public Schools teacher Kari MacRae stressed the TikToks were made before she applied to the job and urged the court to take up her case to protect public employees' free speech rights. One post condemned Rachel Levine, the highest-ranking transgender official in the Biden administration. Another boasted a panda bear photo alongside text that read, 'Dude, racism is stupid. I am black, white, and Asian. But everyone loves me.' 'I feel bad for parents nowadays,' another post read. 'You have to be able to explain the birds & the bees . . . The bees & the bees . . . The birds & the birds . . . The birds that used to be bees . . . The bees that used to be birds . . . The birds that look like bees . . . Plus bees that look like birds but still got a stinger!!!' No justice publicly dissented from the decision to turn away her appeal. But in a seven-page statement, Justice Clarence Thomas said he had 'serious concerns' about the lower court's approach that sided against the teacher. 'It undermines core First Amendment values to allow a government employer to adopt an institutional viewpoint on the issues of the day and then, when faced with a dissenting employee, portray this disagreement as evidence of disruption,' Thomas wrote. 'And, the problem is exacerbated in the case of an employee such as MacRae, who expressed her views only outside the workplace and before her employment.' However, Thomas indicated he agreed with the court's decision to turn away MacRae's petition, saying it didn't squarely challenge those broader issues. The justice signaled he would take up a future case to make clear public employers can not use 'unsupported claims of disruption in particular to target employees who express disfavored political views.' After her firing, MacRae unsuccessfully ran for Massachusetts state Senate in both 2022 and 2024. She's running again for election next year. MacRae was represented by Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group. 'This case could not be a more perfect vehicle for the Court to determine the rights of the tens-of-millions aspiring teachers who are participating in public affairs and the four million public-school teachers who spoke on matters of public concern before they were employed,' the group wrote in its petition. The school district insisted the lower ruling rejecting MacRae's appeal was in harmony with Supreme Court precedents on public school teachers' free speech rights. 'There is no question that the TikTok memes violated the District's core values and mission statement, as found by both the District Court and First Circuit,' the school district wrote in court filings. The order comes weeks after the Supreme Court declined to hear a student's challenge to his school district blocking him from wearing a T-shirt to class that reads, 'There are only two genders.'
Reuters
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
US Supreme Court won't hear free speech fight over teacher fired for social media posts
WASHINGTON, June 30 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear a case involving a Massachusetts public school teacher who sued on free speech grounds after her school fired her in what she called retaliation for social media posts made prior to her employment. The justices turned away plaintiff Kari MacRae's appeal of a lower court's rejection of her lawsuit seeking monetary damages from Hanover Public Schools and school officials. The lower court found that the officials and district did not violate the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment protections against government abridgment of freedom of speech, as MacRae claimed. MacRae was fired in 2021 after school officials discovered a half dozen social media posts that she liked, shared, posted or reposted with her TikTok account, characterized by the officials as memes containing "themes of homophobia, transphobia and racism." According to court records, one meme showed a photo of Rachel Levine, a transgender woman who served as the U.S. assistant secretary for health during Democratic President Joe Biden's administration, with text that reads: "'I'm an expert on mental health and food disorders.' ... says the obese man who thinks he's a woman." Another meme showed a photo of a muscular, bearded man wearing a sports bra with text that reads: "Hi my name is Meagan, I'm here for the Girl's track meet." Another displayed a photo of a panda with text that reads: "Dude, racism is stupid. I am black, white, and Asian. But everyone loves me," according to court records. The disputed posts came months before MacRae was employed by the school, according to court records. MacRae is currently running as a Republican for a seat in the Massachusetts state Senate. Also before her hiring, MacRae posted a video on TikTok in 2021 as part of her successful bid for a school board position in a different school district in which she said that "critical race theory" should not be taught in public schools and that students should not be "taught that they can choose whether or not they want to be a girl or a boy." MacRae was fired about a month after the school district hired her as a math and business teacher. School officials stated in MacRae's termination letter that "continuing your employment in light of your social media posts would have a significant negative impact on student learning" at the school. In her lawsuit, MacRae accused Hanover Public Schools and school officials of unlawfully retaliating against her for speech protected by the First Amendment. The dispute implicated a 1968 Supreme Court ruling involving the First Amendment rights of public employees. The court in that case ruled that while public employees do not forfeit their right to express themselves on matters of public importance, an employee's free speech rights must be weighed against the government's interest in maintaining a workplace free from disruption. A Boston-based federal judge in a 2023 ruling applied the prior Supreme Court ruling and determined that Hanover Public Schools had shown enough evidence of the potential for disruption to justify MacRae's firing. The judge also ruled that school officials were entitled to qualified immunity, a legal doctrine that broadly shields public officials from liability. The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that ruling, prompting MacRae's appeal to the Supreme Court. MacRae argued that the Supreme Court's prior ruling should not apply to her case since it involved comments made by an employed teacher, while MacRae's disputed social media posts were made prior to her employment by Hanover Public Schools.
CBS News
01-06-2025
- General
- CBS News
Senior prank leaves large mess at Massachusetts high school, school officials call it "immature"
Senior prank goes too far, leaving large mess for staff to clean up at Massachusetts high school Senior prank goes too far, leaving large mess for staff to clean up at Massachusetts high school Senior prank goes too far, leaving large mess for staff to clean up at Massachusetts high school Both residents and school officials at a Massachusetts high school were left stunned after a senior prank took an unexpected turn from harmless fun to chaos. Senior prank gone wrong Around 90 students descended on Hanover High School on Thursday night to complete the prank, according to school officials. "I know it involved pineapples in classrooms. Somewhere in between, something happened," said Tracy Loughlin, a Hanover resident and former student at the school. The mess was discovered during a routine patrol that evening. Hanover High School The aftermath of the prank included scattered toilet paper, confetti, plastic wrap, and paper towels littering the ground. Loughlin noted that they were "no big deal" in the grand scheme of things. But rumors began to circulate throughout the town about broken glass in a science lab. Hanover Public Schools superintendent Matthew Ferron and Hanover High School principal Matthew Mattos clarified that there was no permanent damage to the building and that the most time-consuming part was cleaning up the smashed fruit. "Windows were not broken, floors were not damaged, and there was no graffiti," the joint statement read. "The damage was largely superficial." Mattos and Feeron did call the prank "immature, disrespectful, and falling short of the typical creativity or humor typically associated with senior pranks." The class of 2025 has apologized for the mess and has agreed to pay for any damages, staff overtime, and cleaning services required. The incident is being investigated by the school and Hanover Police, but any disciplinary actions will stay confidential. "While the actions of those involved were clearly inappropriate, we also recognize that young people make mistakes, and this moment presents an important opportunity for learning, growth, and accountability," Mattos and Ferron said in a statement. Residents say that diplomas should be withheld Despite the lack of lasting damage, some residents were less forgiving. "The kids that were involved should not have been able to walk," resident Mark Fanning said, suggesting the students' diplomas be withheld as punishment. But some residents were more sympathetic to the students. "I think people need to relax and give kids a little bit of slack. It's clean fun; they could be doing worse things," Michaela Fin said. "It's a little town. All the kids are good kids, I don't know how this happened or why it happened," Laughlin said.
