Suspended Ashland School Teacher Reinstated

The Ashland School District is reinstating a teacher who was suspended after making controversial social media posts about the shooting of 14-year-old Jason Pero last month, according to an announcement Wednesday by the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin.

The Bad River teen was shot and killed by an Ashland County Sheriff’s deputy Nov. 8. The shooting is still under investigation by the Wisconsin Department of Justice.

In a letter dated Nov. 16, the district notified Ojibwe language instructor Sandra Gokee that she was being placed on paid administrative leave for making Facebook posts that were “defamatory and inflammatory.” The posts in question referred to Ashland County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Brock Mrdjenovich as a “murderer.”

The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin sent a letter to the district in late November asking that Gokee be reinstated.

Asma Kadri, attorney for the ACLU of Wisconsin, said Gokee’s posts are protected speech under the First Amendment.

“What Sandy did was well within her constitutional rights as a citizen and that doesn’t necessarily need to, or should cross over with her role as a public school teacher,” said Kadri. “She doesn’t give up her free speech rights when she walks into a classroom.”

Gokee told WPR she’s eager to return to the classroom. However, she said a conversation between native and non-native communities needs to take place.

“This tragedy that struck our community is a perfect starting point for us to come together and resolve the 300 years of oppression that has happened within our native communities and to address these things,” she said. “In order to reconcile and move forward, we need to talk about it. We need to have open and honest conversation.”

In the letter to Gokee, Ashland School District Superintendent Keith Hilts said Gokee was being suspended because her comments “raised concerns about the safety of students who are the children of law enforcement officers, created tension with law enforcement, and created racial tensions within our school.”

The Ashland School District does have a social media policy in its employee handbook. The handbook states employees should only use social media on their own time, make clear they’re posting as themselves, and refrain from disparaging, threatening and inflammatory communications.

The ACLU’s Kadri said any policies in place that don’t comply with a person’s constitutional rights are “ineffective.”

Hilts declined to comment on Gokee’s reinstatement, saying it’s a confidential personnel matter.

Gokee will return to the district after the holidays Tuesday, Jan. 2.