MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. — A lengthy hearing Thursday in Martin County could help determine the employment fate of a social studies teacher and union president.
An administrative law judge is evaluating whether Matthew Theobald should be fired based on comments he made last September about Charlie Kirk's assassination. Theobald allegedly posted on social media that he felt Kirk was a "racist, misogynistic, fear-mongering, xenophobic neo-Nazi."
Theobald is a social studies teacher within the Martin County School District and serves as the president of the district's teacher's union, Martin County Education Association.
During the hearing, an administrative law judge heard from seven different witnesses, including Theobald, Superintendent Michael Maine and district employees who participated in the investigation.
The attorney representing the school district argued that the decision to suggest Theobald's dismissal was made because he broke school policy and the standards of conduct established by the Florida Department of Education.
"How do you restore trust in that teacher under these circumstances if comments like that still remain?" the attorney for the Martin County School District said.
Education
Martin County teacher gets administrative hearing after Facebook post
"It is very difficult to do, which I believe is why we have a guidelines set forth by the state of Florida for our educators to abide by," Maine said.
The attorney representing Theobald argued that the topic was a matter of public concern that he has a right to speak on. The attorney added that the comments were not aimed at attacking students who are a part of the school district’s chapters of Turning Point.
"I am aware in my capacity as an educator that quotations and comments can often be taken out of context so I wanted to make sure that if I was going to speak on a particular topic that I was speaking about the individual’s words themselves," Theobald said.
Theobald also testified that his beliefs do not hinder his ability to teach students in an unbiased way.
No decision was made today. The judge explained it could be roughly another 30 days before there is a decision.
Portions of this story were assisted by artificial intelligence tools and reviewed by a WPTV journalists to ensure accuracy, clarity, and adherence to editorial standards.
