Cheshire teacher 'temporarily' removed after video surfaces of her opining on election, officials say

CHESHIRE — A local school teacher was temporarily removed from her building after a video of her opining about the outcome of the 2024 presidential election surfaced on social media, officials said.

Jeffery Solan, superintendent of Cheshire Public Schools, said in an email to families Monday night that a person recorded a video of one of the district's teachers "expressing her personal opinion" in what was intended to be a private Snapchat message. The person then posted the recording of the Snapchat video to social media, Solan said.

The superintendent said the district is "reviewing this situation as a personnel matter" and temporarily removed the teacher from her building after it had become "immediately clear" that her presence would be a distraction for students and staff. He said school officials have been "inundated" with calls and emails about the incident, mostly from people outside of Cheshire.

"Although we have received no direct threats to the school, we will have a police presence out of an abundance of caution," Solan said.

Whether the teacher had been placed on a temporary leave of absence from the school district was not immediately clear. Solan declined to provide further details in a phone interview.

Solan said the video in question was brought to his attention over the weekend.

Prior to last week's election, Solan emailed families cautioning them about the tense political climate and reminding people to respect others' viewpoints as they head to the polls.

He repeated that sentiment in Monday's note to families.

"Again, I would encourage civil conversation and ask that everyone, particularly adults, work to try and bring down the temperature for the benefit of all Americans, but especially our students," he wrote.