KAUKAUNA, Wis. (WFRV) – Kaukauna Area School District officials have placed one of their high school social studies teachers on administrative leave for a controversial social media post.
Kaukauna High School teacher Patrick Meyer wrote in a post on ‘X’ “I am not impressed with recent presidential assassins. It’s f***ing embarrassing. Booth, Guiteau, Czolgosz must all be spinning in their graves. MAGAA (make Americans great assassins again)! Sad!”
The post has been deleted, but screenshots of it have been shared thousands of times on several social media platforms. It appears that Meyer’s post was in reference to the incident from over the weekend at the White House Corespondents’ dinner when prosecutors say a man charged a security checkpoint with weapons in an effort to shoot President Trump and other government officials.
At their school board meeting on Monday night, Kaukauna school board members didn’t make any additional decisions about Meyer’s future with the district after the social media post. However, several people attended the meeting to give their thoughts on the situation.
Some folks condemned Meyer’s post and demanded that district officials fire him.
“His comment was make assassinations great again, what does this teach our kids if you disagree with someone we should just kill them,” Kaukauna Area School District parent Jennifer Schaefer said.
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“Where the hell has our society gone where that’s happening in our schools, how is that acceptable for anyone who pays taxes and a hell of a lot of taxes in Kaukauna for this school,” added Naomi Dvorachek.
Several of Meyer’s students acknowledged that his social media post wasn’t a good choice, but said he shouldn’t get fired over it.
“Please know that I’m not condoning the post made on X, but simply vouching for Patrick Meyer’s character,” Kaukauna High School student Iris Bass said. “Mr. Meyer is a kind and dutiful teacher who values his students and fellow staff.”
“So I implore you when thinking about what is going to happen with Mr. Meyer don’t think about this one action, but think about all the good that he has done for this district,” another student told board members.
The students said the post was out of character for Meyer and that he has never encouraged violence or picked sides (when it comes to politics) when he’s in the classroom. They said firing him would do more harm than good.
“He encouraged students to stay informed and work hard, what Mr. Meyer didn’t do was encourage violence,” Bass said. “Mr. Meyer as a teacher and a professional shouldn’t have posted what he did, however I argue that one post doesn’t define character.”
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“I want to be very clear, Patrick Meyer is one of the best educators this district has ever had,” former Kaukauna High School student Grayson James-Parsons said. “The level of outrage being directed at him doesn’t match the reality of who he has been as an educator.”
The controversy over the social media post has also caught the eye of congressman Tony Wied who took to his own social media to condemn Meyer.
“This type of disgusting rhetoric in our society, it doesn’t represent the values here in Northeast Wisconsin,” Wied told Local 5 News in an interview on Monday afternoon. “It’s certainly not the example that teachers should be setting for our youth.”
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Local 5 News attempted to reach out to Meyer for comment, but didn’t receive a reply.
“My child will not be taught by a teacher who promotes violence, no matter what happens (if he’s fired or not) my child won’t be taught by Mr. Meyer,” Schaefer said.
The Kaukauna Area School District released the following statement to Local 5 News on Monday afternoon:
The Kaukauna Area School District has been made aware of a situation involving an employee’s social media post. The District has placed the employee on administrative leave and is taking additional action to review the matter in accordance with its policies and procedures.
The Kaukauna Area School District is committed to maintaining a safe and supportive learning environment for all students, families, and staff, and unequivocally rejects any conduct, expression, or behavior that may encourage, condone, or promote violence in any form.
The content of the employee’s social media post was not related to the Kaukauna Area School District, and there has been no evidence of a risk to the safety of our students and schools.
