Image Credit: tullahomatnchamber / Instagram & Google Earth
The Tennessee Conservative [By Olivia Lupia] –
The assassination of Charlie Kirk on September 10 is still having rippling effects throughout the state, particularly as staff and faculty members from educational institutions continue to be exposed for disparaging and disrespectful remarks. Now, a group of concerned citizens in Tullahoma is drawing attention to a high school teacher not only for her comments about Kirk, but other questionably woke behaviors they feel are inappropriate for an educator.
Dr. Monica Blake-Beasley has served as the Criminal Justice educator at Tullahoma High School (THS) since 2020 and also teaches a personal finance course designed to help students “meet the growing complexities of personal financial management and consumer decision making.”
And while the group of involved parents and grandparents take no issue with the courses themselves, they are sounding the alarm as to potential biases that may be being exemplified in Blake-Beasley’s teachings after they discovered an LGBT Pride flag hangs in her classroom and denigrating comments made about Charlie Kirk.
“I assure you that Dr. Blake-Beasley’s only intent in displaying [the flag] is to send a message of safety and respect to the students who enter her classroom. This is consistent with our school-wide goal of fostering a positive school climate and culture at THS, where all students feel they belong, have a voice, and are valued,” defended Principal Greg English.
After Kirk’s death, screenshots show Blake-Beasley “hearted” and commented on a post which called Kirk a “racist, xenophobic, transphobic, Islamophobic, white nationalist mouthpiece.” Her alleged comment contained a meme with the caption FAFO and indicated Kirk “thought some deaths were necessary to keep the 2nd Amendment relevant but never thought it would be his own.”
Tullahoma City Schools (TCS) was made aware of “concerns in the community” about the post and maintained the comments were made in Beasley’s personal capacity, not as a TCS representative. They acknowledged “that there are questions about professionalism” and launched a review of the matter “according to the law school board policies.”
Then, on Sept. 22, almost two weeks after the incident, Director of Schools Catherine Stephens issued a formal reprimand to Blake-Beasley. “This letter will confirm the substance of our meeting on Sept. 18, 2025, regarding a recent social media post in which you grossly unprofessional language,” the reprimand read. “As I stated, such language is unbecoming to any member of the teaching profession. Accordingly, I am formally reprimanding you for your misconduct.”
But that was not strong enough action for dozens of residents who attended the Board of Education meeting the following evening. Majority of the speakers who addressed the board on the topic expressed disappointment Blake-Beasley had not received a harsher punishment, and most thought she should be fired.
TCS School Board attorney Scott Benett defended the teacher’s First Amendment rights, saying the law offers strong protections to private political speech like Blake-Beasley’s post and that protection must be weighed against the impact the speech may have on her ability to perform her job.
Director Stephens concurred with the attorney’s assessment, saying, “In the absence of any evidence to the contrary, therefore, I must conclude that your speech has not substantially impacted your ability to command the respect of your students or your fitness to teach.”
The public reportedly expressed doubt that Stephens had conducted a thorough investigation and noted that Blake-Beasley’s actions did impact the school as students were being pulled from her classes.
In a rebuttal to the reprimand letter, Blake-Beasley claimed the caption of the meme she shared was “colloquially blunt, not vulgar” and that the intent behind her comments had been misrepresented. She disagreed with Stephens that her comment was unprofessional and stated the reprimand was “unnecessarily severe”, blaming bias in school administration.
She further accused the school district of “setting a dangerous precedent by expecting educators to maintain an image of ‘professionalism’ at all times,” even when away from students or on personal accounts.
“This expectation has far-reaching implications. If taken to its logical conclusion, it could mean that teachers are no longer free to engage in basic personal freedoms such as dancing in public, attending social gatherings, drinking a glass of wine, or even posting vacation photos in swimwear-let alone voicing informed perspectives on the social issues that matter to them,” she wrote. “This kind of overreach not only strips educators of their autonomy but also threatens to silence the very people who often champion equity, justice, and progress, which are all issues that directly impact the students and communities we serve.
As to the social issues she references, Blake-Beasley previously served as a police officer in Nashville from 2004-2019, working as a patrol officer, assisting with undercover operations, and as a School Resource Officer before her retirement, which she claims came after a “violent sexual assault from an off-duty police officer” in 2016. After “enduring discrimination, retaliation, and violation of civil rights from the police department,” she filed a federal lawsuit which was settled “almost immediately” according to Blake-Beasley.
Her experience led her to become an “avid supporter of grassroots organizations and supported citizens in establishing an oversight board for police accountability” and a speaker for Strategies for Justice, a “training and speaking bureau focused on race, disability, and gender equity within law enforcement.”
The school district’s apparent willingness to shield Blake-Beasley for these seemingly left-wing biased positions and actions has become a matter of great concern for many community members invested in the welfare of students, and they are continuing to raise awareness about the goings on in the Tullahoma school system as they press for accountability.
About the Author: Olivia Lupia is a political refugee from Colorado who now calls Tennessee home. A proud follower of Christ, she views all political happenings through a Biblical lens and aims to utilize her knowledge and experience to educate and equip others. Olivia is an outspoken conservative who has run for local office, managed campaigns, and been highly involved with state & local GOPs, state legislatures, and other grassroots organizations and movements. Olivia can be reached at olivia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
6 Responses
“TCS School Board attorney Scott Benett defended the teacher’s First Amendment rights.” AND, there are consequences for what we say. If I work at Company B and they feel that my free speech misrepresents their business, I can be reprimanded up to being fired. I’m sure we would all agree.
This “teacher” is one of the globalists who should not be teaching in our schools. Charlie Kirk fought to save kids from brainwashing by BIMBOS like this woman.
A “Pride” flag is indoctrination and confusion validating symbolism used by those who hate our children, God, and our country. It is a form of Queer Marxism: Queer Theory is another species of Marxism, following precisely the same outline. Its popularity is seen in the obsessive focus on sexuality and gender. Under Queer Marxism, the private property that must be abolished is the idea of “normal.” The haves are those who get to decide what is normal. Heterosexuals enjoy this privilege and set the rules for society, deciding that men must act and dress like men, that women should be pretty and feminine, and that other sexualities are abnormal or “queer.” Queer people are the have-nots, and they have embraced the “queer” label, even using it as an academic term. “Queer” means an identity without an essence, an identity that is strictly oppositional to the concept of the normal.
Queer Marxists see it as their mission to abolish the private property of “normal” sexuality. Gender pronouns, Drag Queen Story Hour and sex-change surgery for children are among the variety of tools they are currently using to drive their revolution. The “+” in the “LGBTQIA+” acronym is a reminder that nothing is ultimately off-limits – not even pedophilia. These are included and embraced in DEI ideology.
This teacher, hired in 2020, is clearly a DEI hire and needs to be dismissed because she is not qualified to “educate” anyone.
Lucifer’s accursed dimmercrap “teacher”, lucifer’s accursed dimmercraps defending her.
Teachers are required to sign a social media policy which clearly states that their posts can get them fired, especially if they list where they work and what they do in their profiles. It has nothing to do with free speech, which, as educators they should know only applies to the federal government, it’s called being a professional and representing your employer. If you say stupid things online that can reflect badly on your employer, you can be fired. No responsible parent wants their children’s education influenced by someone who mocks a person who is murdered in cold blood because people had issues with HIS RIGHT TO SPEAK FREELY. Do you not see the irony here???
The loudmouth liberals that hate all that would do good in this world are sick. They have been miserable all their life. When they see something that “normal” people do/like/want/have/revere/worship/grieve etc. they lash out at it/them to put down whatever the normal people have. They act like the drunk that is totally unreasonable. It’s a mental illness…….. that is the only explanation for the irrational hate that liberals have that comes out on things.
Yeah, people have lost their jobs after posting comments disparaging Charlie Kirk. AND YET: Vice President Vance said Wednesday he did not want the racist remarks in the explosive Young Republicans group chat to ruin the participants’ lives, dismissing them as “stupid” jokes made by “kids.”
Vance said he will encourage his kids, “especially my boys,” to be careful of what they post in group chats and on the internet, saying they should assume “some scumbag is going to leak it in an effort to try to cause you harm or cause your family harm.”
“But the reality is that kids do stupid things. Especially young boys, they tell edgy, offensive jokes. Like, that’s what kids do,” Vance continued. “And I really don’t want us to grow up in a country where a kid telling a stupid joke — telling a very offensive, stupid joke — is cause to ruin their lives.”
Politico published a bombshell report this week, exposing thousands of text messages from a Young Republican group chat in which members played on racial stereotypes, used gay slurs and joked about gas chambers, slavery and rape.