The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Teacher's Facebook comment on police shooting draws flak
School district looks into Lassiter High band leader’s post.
The Cobb County School District is reviewing whether a Lassiter High S chool teacher violated district policies with a social media post she made about Jacob Blake, a Black man who was shot in the back by police in Keno- sha, Wisconsin.
The district’s Human Resources Department has been made aware of the post made last week by Carol Doemel, the orchestra director at Lassiter High School, a system spokesperson said.
“We expec t every employee to treat everyone with dignity, respect, and empathy, both in per- son and online,” the school district said.
The Facebook post allegedly written by Doemel was forwarded to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, but was not viewable to the public on Tuesday.
In the post, D oe m el repeated allegations that
Blake was accused of crimes and resisted arrest before he was shot by police.
“...People are upset about the police having to shoot this criminal?” according to a screenshot of the post. “And of course, it makes perfect sense to burn businesses, attack people, (and) torch the cars at a car dealership.”
Doemel declined to com- ment on the post for the AJC.
The Associated Press has debunked similar statements
about Blake. According to the AP, online court records show that Kenosha County prosecutors had charged
Blake with sexual assault, trespassing and disorderly
conduct in connection with domestic abuse on July 6. An arrest warrant was issued on July 7. The warrant filed in the case has since been vacated, CNN.com reported.
The shooting l eft t he 29-year-old father of six paralyzed from the waist down, and led to protests and violence in the city. Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17-year-old white teenager, was charged Thursday in the fatal shoot-
ing of two protesters and the wounding of a third in Kenosha.
According to the Lassiter High School Orchestra website, Doemel has a bachelor’s degree in music performance from Florida State University, a master’s in music performance from Georgia State University and a post-baccalaureate degree in string education. She has been with the Lassiter program since 1993.
Jennifer Floyd, a former Cobb County educator who shared the screenshot of the controversial Facebook post with the AJC, said she was made aware of the post last week by another teacher. Floyd, a former orchestra program director at McEachern High School, said she was “hurt” by the post because she often collaborated with Doemel in the classroom.
“This post just hit so differently because it just spewed hatred,” she said.
Floyd said she believes Doemel, who is white, should no longer be in the classroom because the feelings she has about Blake could impact her ability to teach Black students and interact with Black colleagues.