Jefferson City School District leaders are investigating recent social media posts by three district staff members.
One post was a comment on an article about an adviser for President Donald Trump reportedly calling recent protests over racism and police brutality an attempt to "destroy the United States." The JC Schools staff member appears to have replied, with an expletive, that "we are letting the minority of this country win."
Two more posts were xenophobic in nature, referring to the novel coronavirus as the "China virus" or "Chinese virus."
The News Tribune has received screen shots of the alleged posts but is not currently reporting the names of the staff members alleged to have written them pending confirmation of their authenticity.
"The Jefferson City School District is aware of these social media posts," JC Schools Communications Director Ryan Burns said. "The subject matter and content of the posts is completely unacceptable and out of line with our expectations for district employees to create an environment free from bias and exclusion."
Burns said Monday the district's human resources department is launching an investigation into the posts.
"If they are determined to be authentic, this will be handled as a personnel matter, with appropriate disciplinary actions, moving forward," Burns said.
She noted confirming the staff members in question authored the posts "will be part of the investigation."
"We are just getting started with this, and we will be getting to the bottom of this matter," Superintendent Larry Linthacum said. "We are going to be working in a fair and open manner."
Burns said: "The district does not have a specific social media policy for employees, but our policy on prohibition against discrimination, harassment and retaliation does relate to the discriminatory behavior and consequences."
She provided a link to that policy, which reads: "The district strictly prohibits discrimination and harassment against employees, students or others on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, disability, age, genetic information or any other characteristic protected by law."
Burns noted the district recently shared a message on equity with stakeholders. In that message, Linthacum said he would "engage in a series of listening sessions with people of color, including members of our staff, parents, students, and other community stakeholders in the weeks and months ahead. We seek to better understand the experiences of those who walk the hallways of our schools every day so we can find meaningful ways to improve in both the short and long term."
She added: "As acknowledged in that message, while the district has made efforts to address diversity and inclusion in recent years, there is still much work to be done. One of the areas identified for improvement is professional development for our existing staff, which could include things like sensitivity or implicit biases training in the future.
"We cannot fix issues that we are not aware of, and now that these instances have been brought to our attention, we intend to follow through on our commitment to improving the learning environment of our students," Burns said.