A Duval County teacher should not lose her teaching license for social media posts last September after the murder of conservative media personality Charlie Kirk, an administrative law judge says.<\/p>\n
Hope McMath, who taught AP Art History at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, was pulled from the classroom a year ago<\/a> after Duval Schools and the state of Florida began simultaneous investigations of two posts she made to her Facebook account the evening of Sept. 10, 2025.<\/p>\n The district concluded its investigation months ago but kept McMath out of the classroom while the state\u2019s investigation continued.<\/p>\n McMath is not in the clear yet, though; her case will now go to a state-level body called the Education Practices Commission for a final review. A date for that hasn\u2019t been announced yet.<\/p>\n McMath also is not back in the classroom. After her contract ended over the summer, it wasn\u2019t renewed \u2014 something McMath says she first learned from opposing attorneys during a hearing in July.<\/p>\n During the hearing, judge Garnett W. Chisenhall heard testimony from McMath, a state investigator, a district investigator and Douglas Anderson Principal Tim Feagins.<\/p>\n Both investigators said they had found no evidence that students saw McMath\u2019s posts and had no reason to think the posts had disrupted operations at the school or the district. Feagins told the judge the only complaints he received were directed at McMath\u2019s removal from the classroom.<\/p>\n McMath said her absence left 50 students without a qualified teacher for months for a college-level course, prompting some to drop the class.<\/p>\n \u201cStudents weren\u2019t talking about it. Teachers weren\u2019t talking about it. Parents weren\u2019t talking about it,\u201d Feagins said at the hearing. \u201cThey were aware because it was in the news, but nobody ever brought it up as far as a concern of her being in front of their children.\u201d<\/p>\n Feagins told the judge he would like to have McMath back on his teaching staff.<\/p>\n McMath and her attorney, John Phillips, have long maintained that her speech is protected by the First Amendment. In his 22-page order, Chisenhall noted that his role is only to rule on whether she violated Florida law and not to \u201cadjudicate the First Amendment argument.\u201d<\/p>\n The complaint then-Education Commissioner Anastasios\u00a0Kamoutsas filed against McMath\u2019s teaching license alleged five statute violations. Chisenhall rejected each assertion.<\/p>\n Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Phillips said the judge\u2019s order will support the case he\u2019s making in McMath\u2019s continuing federal civil rights suit against the Duval School Board and others. <\/p>\n \u201cJust to be clear \u2014 just so that (Duval County Public Schools) hears me loud and clear, so (the Department of Education) hears me loud and clear, so the defendants hear me loud and clear \u2014 what did he say? \u2018There is no competent evidence to support a finding that Ms. McMath brought her or the educational profession into public disgrace or disrespect,’\u201d Phillips said. \u201cThat is a ruling of a judge.\u201d<\/p>\n Other teacher cases<\/p>\n McMath\u2019s case is one of several still continuing around the state. The Education Department hasn\u2019t said exactly how many teachers it investigated over social media posts after Kirk\u2019s death, but in a deposition for McMath\u2019s case a state official said the number is \u201cabout 50.\u201d<\/p>\n Kelly Brock-Sanchez<\/a>, who was a teacher in Clay County, was fired after posting about Kirk\u2019s death. Then-Commissioner Kamoutsas posted on social media that he would seek to revoke her teaching license. The administrative law judge assigned to her case is expected to issue her ruling next month.\u00a0<\/p>\n State records show teachers in Martin County, Lee County and Sumter County also are challenging discipline they faced after Kirk-related social media posts. <\/p>\n A federal case<\/p>\n McMath, an artist and activist who also runs the Yellow House art gallery<\/a> and spent seven years as director of the Cummer Museum of Art, first filed the federal civil rights suit<\/a> late last year and amended the complaint on Monday. It names several defendants, including Kamoutsas, the Education Department, the Duval School Board, three Duval School Board members (Charlotte Joyce, April Carney and Melody Bolduc) and Moms for Liberty.<\/p>\n