Controversy over theatre teacher's Pro-Palestine Instagram post
(Photo: John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com)
by Chris Peterson, OnStage Blog Founder
In the early months of 2024, controversy erupted over a theatre teacher’s pro-Palestine post on her Instagram page. The incident also resulted in the resignation of the Township High School District 113 board president.
Britnee Kenyon was a rising star within the faculty at Deerfield High School(DHS), located just outside Chicago, IL. She was hired before the 2019-20 school year, having previously taught at Rolling Meadows and Maine East high schools and worked as an actor and director in the Chicago area. During her second year on the job in District 113, Kenyon was named one of 30 finalists for a prestigious statewide “Golden Apple Award”.
But that all changed in the days following Dec 12, 2023, when Kenyon posted a pro-Palestine quote on her Instagram page. The quote was attributed to Ibram Kendi. The post stated,
"When a people are ethnically cleansed, the perpetrators usually come for the people's writers. By targeting writers, they can kill the memory of the people. Attempts to wipe a people off the face of the earth are often paired with attempts to wipe the people from the face of history. What the Israeli military is doing in Gaza is not only a crime against humanity. It is a crime against history.”
According to local news, Kenyon said she posted content from Kendi's feed to her Instagram "story," which automatically disappeared after 24 hours. Although her account was set to private, some DHS students and school club and activity accounts to follow it and see her posts.
Just days following her post, District 113 Chief Human Resources Officer Thomas Krieger sent Kenyon a "notice of pre-disciplinary meeting" about her Instagram account and scheduled a meeting.
However, before that meeting had taken place, the board notified the community of posting with a district-wide message from its president.
Board president Dan Struck said, "It has come to our attention that a staff member made a post on a personal social media page that implicitly disparages the personal beliefs and human decency of a substantial portion of our student body.”
Following Struck's email to the community, Superintendent Bruce Law and DHS Principal Kathryn Anderson both received reports that Kenyon had violated the district's social media policy for reasons unrelated to her Instagram account or the Israel-Hamas War. It was reported that Kenyon also used Snapchat to communicate with students, which apparently violates policy.
While Kenyon admitted to using Snapchat in the past for things such as rehearsal schedules or student tardiness, she indicated she was no longer using the app.
Following an investigation, it found, Kenyon's social media activity violated two policies. It said she failed to maintain appropriate professional boundaries with students by allowing students, student activity and club accounts to follow her on her personal Instagram and Snapchat accounts, and by allowing students to view inappropriate personal photos she had posted(the pro-Palestine post). Kenyon also violated the district's social media policy by communicating with current students through both accounts instead of limiting it to district-sanctioned platforms.
A letter to Kenyon stated,
"In addition to the violations of Board policy detailed above, your actions demonstrate a significant lack of judgment on your part regarding your role as a licensed teacher and the obligation you have to our students, in that you permitted private postings about your political views and personal life to become inextricably connected to your professional role, causing harm to students and families and significant disruption to the educational process."
It should be noted that a recent DHS graduate was among the hostages taken during the Oct 7 Hamas attack. Thankfully, she returned home safely.
It is reported that Kenyon has been on leave since Jan 19th.
At a February school board meeting, Rich Ruscitti, Kenyon's father, said Struck's letter was defamatory, discriminatory and wrong. He told the board president to apologize to his daughter and retract the letter.
"You are responsible for the antisemitic slurs Britnee has endured," Ruscitti said. "You have instigated this firestorm in a community that is already on edge with world events. You have thrown more aggression at them."
Parents also spoke out during the meeting. Pam Handmaker, a parent of a student in the DHS drama program, said Kenyon's leave affected her child's mental health.
"There are other teachers who talk with their students on social media. There are other teachers who have vitriolic antisemitic posts on their social media on their social media that are public," Handmaker said. "Why is no one talking about them? And for the record I'm not saying we should be ."
The day after the meeting, Struck submitted his resignation.
Struck said his resignation was not requested by the board and was not a response to comments from the public. The former board president felt he could not longer serve as a board member "effectively or in good conscience," he said.
"I have not retracted and have no reason to apologize for anything I said or did on the Board and I acted within the scope of my responsibilities the entire time I was on the Board," he said. "I resigned based on my deeply held convictions which lead me to the unfortunate conclusion that I could no longer serve."
It is reported that the situation is still ongoing, and Kenyon is still on leave.
This is a developing story and more information will be added as it becomes available.