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South Putnam School Board approves Kinnaird’s resignation
After the backlash that followed a South Putnam parent’s criticism of a protest sign he created, Spanish teacher Brandon Kinnaird will not be returning to South Putnam High School.
With a large group that was in attendance, the South Putnam School Board approved Kinnaird’s voluntary resignation during a special meeting held Wednesday evening.
Criticisms of a protest sign Kinnaird created were made by Amy Clark during the board’s July regular meeting. The sign read “N.W.A. said it right in 1988,” a reference to hip-hop group N.W.A.’s 1988 song “F*** Tha Police.”
Clark believed that his sign was “no more” than a threat to the school community, and promoted hate and bullying toward police and their children who may be students.
Persons familiar with the situation said Kinnaird felt pressured to resign after the school received a “deluge” of complaints regarding his recent involvement in local protests.
Nearly 20 people attended Wednesday’s meeting to express their support and concerns about how the controversy was handled by South Putnam administration and the school board.
The first to speak was South Putnam graduate Moriah Coward, who described the circumstances of Kinnaird’s resignation to be “unjust” and “disheartening.”
“It is with great sadness that I’m here today addressing these matters for the person who I know to be kind, caring and generous, but has been made out to be violent, dangerous and evil,” Coward said.
She criticized Clark’s comments as being “projected” onto Kinnaird based on fear and “slippery-slope logic,” with no consideration as to his character or knowing about the kind of person he was.
“One reference to a song has been misconstrued and manipulated into a series of false ideas and attitudes in which violence was read into, when no such violence was advocated,” Coward said. “This is a problem that goes farther than one teacher, one school system and one county.
“There’s been a great amount of unnecessary fear resulting from this situation,” she said further. “Fear is obviously not a mindset not to be encouraged. But how can this change be made when change itself is discouraged?”
Summer Burris, another South Putnam graduate, concurred with Coward on Kinnaird’s character. However, she also criticized administration in allegedly never notifying him that his actions were under investigation.
After Clark’s comments were made during the July 8 meeting, Superintendent Bruce Bernhardt stated that the corporation had been in contact with attorneys for the Indiana School Board Association.
“Though South Putnam was not legally required to inform him, one would think that he would’ve been given the chance to explain himself and his intentions,” Burris said. “As an employee and a team member, Kinnaird was left in the dark by his South Putnam family, whom he selflessly dedicated himself to, which then made him feel like he was no longer welcome or appreciated.”
Burris also touched on key theme of the complaints — whether South Putnam administration has now set a precedent for teachers and students if they have opposing viewpoints. She classified Clark’s comments as bullying and being politically motivated.
“I think this sends a really powerful message to the teachers here,” graduate Savannah McIntosh said. “So many of them are scared, because they’re afraid to say something that a parent’s going to disagree with, and then be ousted from their job.”
McIntosh acknowledged that Kinnaird resigned voluntarily and was not fired. However, she said this was because the school board and administration did not back him up. In essence, Kinnaird had no choice to resign because of the “narrative” she alleged Clark established.
In letters read by McIntosh, anonymous individuals alleged that the school board was already aware of Clark’s viewpoint and allowed her speak anyway. It was also advocated that Kinnaird was only acting as a private citizen and protesting on his own time away from school property.
“I don’t think it’s fair to throw the baby out with the bathwater on this one,” a parent of one of the commenters said. “You can’t look at one thing that a person does in their own free time, voicing their own opinion outside of school grounds, on public ground.
“It’d be different if he was in-house, in this school, and he was saying such things and creating an environment or maybe a thought in his students to be disrespectful, hateful or disruptive toward authority,” she added. “(Kinnaird) has not done that ... And so for one person to create such a ruckus that could cause this man to lose his job, be forced to resign, that one person shouldn’t speak on behalf of me.”
The last person to speak was Mitchell Crum, a current student at South Putnam. He was also the only person to speak in support of Clark’s comments, adding that his stepfather is a police officer who would protect “every human he possibly can.”
“I believe what Amy Clark said was right; she has every right to speak,” Crum said. “My thought is if a student does anything in the same manner — derogatory of any sort — they are possibly suspended immediately. It should be the same with a teacher who does something derogatory.”
Crum provided that this was like an athlete playing for the school. He believed Kinnaird had to be held to the same standard as a representative of South Putnam, even though he might not be “the school.”
“I think it forces, in a sense, a political belief towards students,” Crum concluded. “In school, we’re not allowed to talk about Jesus because it is pushing a belief that many people may or may not believe in. I believe we should not be able to push our political beliefs in school as well.”
Before the meeting was adjourned, board member Craig Newby thanked the audience for coming to the meeting and speaking up.
As of Thursday evening, Kinnaird had not responded to an email from the Banner Graphic for comment about his resignation.