Michigan School Board Fires Superintendent Over George Floyd Facebook Post

Grand Ledge School Board members unanimously opted to terminate the superintendent who was placed on leave in June for his Facebook comments about George Floyd.

The board voted on Monday (September 21) to remove now-former Superintendent Brian Metcalf from his position, after a nearly seven-hour due process hearing that Metcalf’s lawyer, Eric Delaporte, dubbed “nothing but a sham.”

Floyd, a Black man, died after white Minneapolis Police Department officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Chauvin and three other officers are charged in connection with Floyd’s death, which prompted Black Lives Matter demonstrations nationwide.

Commenting on a Facebook post by the school districts communication director after the May incident, Metcalf wrote statements that some have since called out as “victim blaming.”

Metcalf commented of Floyd: “had he not paid with counterfeit money, had he not resisted, had he not been under the influence -- then there would be no contact with officers; that does not excuse the officer; it just eliminates the conflict to begin with!! It starts with being a good citizen!"

Some gathered for the hearing in the Grand Ledge High School parking lot. It was also streamed on Zoom.

The board charged Metcalf with misconduct, incompetence, inefficiency and leadership incapacity, the Lansing State Journal reported Monday.

Delaporte, however, argued that the First Amendment protects Metcalf’s comments, according to a WNEM TV5 story.

"He didn't write it perfectly,” Metcalf acknowledged. “It was on Facebook at 11:30 at night. Despite that, despite the fact that he was trying to help and not hurt, that he was engaged in protected first amendment activity, this board of education has chosen to violate the law to destroy his reputation, destroy his career, destroy his life.”

He added that the hearing was “nothing but a sham. This is a way to throw him under the bus.”

Next, a case Metcalf and Delaporte filed against the school district will head to the county circuit court, according to WNEM TV5.

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