Douglas County School Board members are raising concerns about school safety after state Rep. Brandi Bradley criticized her son’s teacher on social media.
Bradley claimed on X that the teacher told the class the 1503 painting of the Mona Lisa could be a depiction of the artist Leonardo da Vinci as a woman. She claimed the Douglas County School District teacher said the painter may have been “genderfluid.” Bradley also said in the post that she planned to confront the teacher, calling him a “groomer.”
The Republican’s post went viral, garnering more than 46,000 likes, 2,700 shares and around 2,200 comments. It also attracted national attention, with the Daily Mail, New York Post and Newsweek reporting on the social media furore.
In an interview with the Douglas County News-Press, Bradley said she posted on social media amid this attention because she felt the school district was not responding to her concerns that students might be taught about LGBTQ issues that she disagreed with.
“At a certain point, parents have to do what they have to do to make a change,” Bradley said. “I feel like no one is listening to me.”
In follow-up posts, Bradley posted recordings of her conversation with the teacher and pictures of the classroom, which have since been removed. One of the pictures contained identifying information about the school and the teacher, prompting school board members to reprimand Bradley.
Members spoke out against Bradley’s posts because they potentially exposed the school and teachers to threats and harassment.
Board member Susan Meek said Bradley abused her position as an elected official.
“This behavior represents a gross abuse of power and a blatant disregard for the safety and well-being of our teachers,” Meek said.
Board member Tim Moore said people should be careful online and avoid posting personal information about others.
“I don’t think it’s OK to make a person’s personal or identifying information public,” Moore said. “That information can go to many different, unintended places. The bottom line is that this behavior is really dangerous.”
Bradley said it was not her intention to reveal the identity of the school or the teacher and she removed the photos when she was made aware that they contained personal information.
“If I had intended to identify the teacher, I would have posted the name of the school along with the teacher’s name,” she said. “If I wanted to doxx the teacher, I would have done so and it would have been my right.”
Bradley also objected to her posts being portrayed as incitement to bullying or attacks on the teacher or the school.
“The grace I’ve been taught in my life is not to have hateful people of the world attack the teacher, that is not my intention,” she said. “To be clear, I did not start this. This teacher took it upon herself to lie and tell a false story to 15-year-old children. If she hadn’t done that, this would never have happened, so I’m done bullying the teacher.”
Board members said they encourage parents to speak directly with teachers about curriculum or instructional issues, but not in a way that raises safety concerns.
“Parents absolutely have the right to speak to teachers if they have concerns, and I would never want to take that right away,” said board president Christy Williams. “This is a partnership between our parents and our teachers.”
The board also expressed its support for the teacher. Board member Brad Geiger condemned Bradley’s use of the word “groomer” but also defended Bradley’s right to criticize the schools.
“We cannot limit criticism, and we shouldn’t, even if we personally find criticism to be objective or even despicable. But I want to make sure that we as a district understand that while freedom of expression is a protected and important right, we will recognize the consequences when people abuse that right to hurt others,” Geiger said.
During its meeting on August 27, the board discussed in a closed session what legal support was available to the teacher.
