A member of the Algonquin-based Community School District 300 Board who made a controversial comment on social media after Charlie Kirk’s death was stripped of her board president seat Thursday but avoided a formal censure.

Board member Nancy Zettler sparked a firestorm when she wrote in a Sept. 10 Facebook post that her initial reaction to Kirk’s murder was karma.

The board held a special meeting Thursday night to consider possible action against Zettler. Board members voted 5-1 to remove her as president. However, the board refused to vote on a measure to censure her.

Moments before the vote, Zettler said the district will get through the controversy regardless of what happened to her. She added that she remains steadfast in her support of District 300 students.

“I’m not going anywhere,” she said.

A packed crowd attended Thursday’s meeting, where the board heard almost two hours of public comment.

Since Zettler’s post, the district has received more than 250 emails, 80 phone calls and eight Freedom of Information Act requests. Parents also have protested outside the district administration office.

Zettler, who was first elected to the school board in 2019, has served as president since May.

During a board meeting Sept 23, Zettler defended herself, saying that her post, shared on her private page, was “stolen,” and then parts of it were shared on other public pages to make it appear that she was celebrating Kirk’s death.

Zettler said her post was about how she processed the news of Kirk’s death and how a post from a fellow Democrat – which focused on a theme of empathy – helped her sift through her emotions.

“Nancy Zettler deserves your full support,” parent Jessica Jacob said Thursday night. “She did nothing unlawful, nothing that made her unfit to serve.”

Supporters also pointed to Zettler’s dedication to the district. Some called the controversy a “witch hunt” against her.

Still, other parents remained critical of her social media post and her statement at the Sept. 23 meeting, which many say only fueled the controversy.

“You may speak freely, absolutely,” parent Holly Jarovsky said. “But we, the people you claim to represent, have every right to hold you accountable for your words, and your words do matter.”

During the Sept. 23 meeting, Zettler blamed a “manufactured disruption” for interrupting district operations. She also expressed frustration over “phony astroturf” groups targeting others who don’t share their views and trying to remove them from office or their jobs.

“This is why I will not apologize for the post that I made to my personal Facebook page on Sept. 10,” she said. “I, and this district, have been the target of such deceit.”

On Tuesday, officials from the Kane County Regional Office of Education confirmed that they received at least 60 emails. A vast majority of the messages were critical of Zettler. Some called for her removal from the school board.

Although the regional superintendent can remove a school board member from office, Kane County Regional Superintendent John Jonak said those instances are rare and involve a board member’s willful failure to fulfill their duties.

“This would not fall under that,” he said of the situation in District 300. “It doesn’t fit the criteria. … It’s a board matter.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20251002/news/district-300-school-board-member-removed-as-president-but-avoids-censure-for-charlie-kirk-post/