Texas school district defends firing a teacher for popular TikTok – By Ariana Garcia (Chron) / Dec 1, 2023
Austin ISD upheld the termination during a special school board meeting on Wednesday.
A Texas school district is standing by its decision to fire an elementary school teacher after one of her TikTok videos went viral earlier this year. Back in March, Austin ISD placed Sophia DeLoretto-Chudy, a former third grade teacher at Becker Elementary School, on administrative leave after she posted a clip on the video app describing her meeting with a former administrator.
In the clip, which garnered millions of views, DeLoretto-Chudy detailed numerous complaints the administrator listed about DeLoretto-Chudy, including her “intentional attempt in teaching you students about their legal and constitutional rights.” DeLoretto-Chudy questioned in the TikTok: “Why is that a concern?”
After the 45-second clip reached millions on TikTok, DeLoretto-Chudy was placed on administrative leave, the district citing its social media policy for the decision. In April, she received a letter from the district notifying they were terminating her employment. DeLoretto-Chudy was given the opportunity to have a grievance hearing over Zoom in September, according to a report from FOX 7. “We made the case that it violated the First Amendment for me to be terminated and that it wasn’t in the best interest of the district and that I hadn’t violated the policies that they claimed,” the former teacher told the Austin news outlet.
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