Teacher On Leave After Her Facebook Posts On Deputy Shooting

An Ashland elementary teacher is on paid leave for writing what the superintendent calls “defamatory and inflammatory” posts about a sheriff’s deputy who killed a teenager. The state Justice Department is still investigating this month’s shooting death of 14-year-old Jason Pero — and officials said he was shot twice after he lunged at the officer with a knife. The teacher, Sandra Gokee, wrote on Facebook that Ashland County Deputy Brock Mrdjenovich (mer jen oh vitch) “executed an innocent boy and the result is a paid vacation,” referring to his administrative leave. Gokee told K-B-J-R T-V in Duluth she was providing a “teaching opportunity,” and “difficult topics have to be discussed with an open mind.” She posted a letter from Ashland Superintendent Keith Hilts stating her remarks “created tension with law enforcement” and “credited racial tensions within the school” — and it also mentioned discipline, but Gokee said she was asked to consider returning without a hearing.