Tiffany Riley wrote on her Facebook page that while she agrees with the Black Lives Matter movement she finds it worrisome that individuals who are not vocal enough about that support are being targeted, even punished.
After those comments, the Mount Ascutney School Board held an emergency meeting and declared that it was “uniformly appalled” by Riley’s comments. Superintendent David Baker assured the public that it would begin working on a “mutually agreed upon severance package” for the educator, meaning she would ultimately be dismissed.
To be clear, Riley did not criticize the Black Lives Matter movement, only the forced demonstrable participation in it.
“I do not think people should be made to feel they have to choose black race over human race,” Riley wrote. “While I understand the urgency to feel compelled to advocate for black lives, what about our fellow law enforcement? What about all others who advocate for and demand equity for all? Just because I don’t walk around with a BLM sign should not mean I am a racist.”
She said she was motivated to write due to “the coercive measures taken to get to [the BLM] point across; some of which are falsified in an attempt to prove a point.”
These views, expressed by Riley in her personal life, not anywhere in a school-setting was enough to have the school board declare that they “They don’t see any way that [Riley’s] going to go forward as the principal of that building given those comments and that statement. It’s clear that the community has lost faith in her ability to lead.”