Former Clay County elementary teacher Kelly Brock-Sanchez says her life has been in a holding pattern ever since a Facebook post about conservative activist Charlie Kirk cost her the classroom job she loved.
Brock-Sanchez, who taught exceptional-student education at Ridgeview Elementary, says she "can't get a job" in her profession after Clay County schools fired her over social media comments that appeared to celebrate Kirk's killing in September. She says the only paid work she has managed since then is a patchwork of gig and babysitting jobs while she fights her dismissal. An administrative hearing is set for Aug. 13-14, and she has also sued the state education commissioner in federal court.
The posts, made from a private Facebook account under the name "Kelly Steele Magnolia," included the line, "This might not be the obituary we were hoping to wake up to, but this is a close second to me," and later called Kirk "one less evil person on this planet." She was pulled off campus the next morning, after what district officials describe as an "overwhelming" volume of complaints, and the Clay County superintendent later recommended that her contract be terminated effective Oct. 2. The Florida Department of Education's Office of Professional Practices then opened a disciplinary investigation, according to Creative Loafing Tampa.
State Moves to Strip Her Certificate
Florida Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas has already signaled he wants Brock-Sanchez out of the profession entirely. The department found probable cause to seek revocation of her educator certificate, calling the Facebook posts "vile, sanctionable behavior" that, in the state's view, undercut her effectiveness as a teacher, according to Action News Jax.
At the same time, Kamoutsas is set to move into a new role outside Tallahassee. Polk State College has named him its incoming president and says he will begin in early July, per Polk State College.
Legal Fight Proceeds on Two Tracks
Brock-Sanchez is challenging the state and the district separately, turning her case into a long-haul legal battle.
In federal court, she sued Kamoutsas in the U.S. Middle District of Florida, asking a judge to declare that the state’s threatened sanctions over her Facebook comments violate her First Amendment rights. Lawyers for the commissioner have pushed back with motions to dismiss, arguing she lacks standing to bring the case.
On the employment side, the Clay County School Board has set an administrative hearing for Aug. 13-14 via Zoom to review the superintendent’s recommendation to fire her. The federal lawsuit is on an even slower track, with trial currently scheduled for November 2027, according to Creative Loafing Tampa.
Momentum Shifting in Similar Cases
As Brock-Sanchez fights for her career, public-interest lawyers say the winds may be shifting in other disputes over what workers post on their personal accounts.
This spring, the ACLU of Florida announced a $485,000 settlement for former state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission biologist Brittney Brown, who was fired over a private social media post, according to ACLU of Florida.
In another case, Administrative Law Judge Jodi-Ann Livingstone recommended that Martin County rescind both the suspension and termination of veteran teacher Matthew Theobald, who had also been disciplined after online comments, per WPBF.
And on the national level, reporting has documented that roughly 600 people across the country were fired, suspended or otherwise punished over comments tied to Kirk's death, according to Reuters.
Local Fallout and What to Watch
Back in Clay County, parents and school leaders are watching Brock-Sanchez’s case as a stress test of where to draw the line between a teacher’s off-hours speech and a school district’s duty to avoid disruption and keep students safe.
Brock-Sanchez says the controversy has cost her not only steady employment but also any sense of normalcy. Local reporting notes she has relied on gig work while the dual legal fights play out, and that her case has effectively put her professional life on pause. The outcome is expected to be closely watched across Florida, where similar disputes over social media posts are moving through courts and administrative hearings, according to News From The States.
