Florida judge recommends reinstatement of teacher suspended over social media post

An administrative court judge has recommended that Mariah Roller, a teacher at Three Oaks Middle School in Fort Myers, Florida, be reinstated with back pay following her suspension. The suspension was triggered by a private Facebook post regarding the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Division of Administrative Hearings Judge Andrew Manko ruled that Roller’s comments caused “minimal” disruption to the Lee County School Board. The judge noted that the post was made on her personal page and that its dissemination was the result of a third party rather than the teacher herself. While the school board argued the post caused “substantial disruption,” the judge found that only two parents complained to the board and the school principal provided only generic responses to a limited number of emails regarding the matter.

The ruling is a recommendation to local and state agencies and is not legally binding. The case follows an incident where Kirk was killed by a gunman while speaking at a college in Utah.