A Pennsylvania teacher who was suspended last year during an investigation into his attendance at, and social media posts about, the “Stop the Steal” rally — which later turned to a deadly insurrection on Jan. 6 — has been fired for refusing to return to work.
Allentown School District board of school directors voted Thursday to fire Jason Moorehead, who was a middle school social studies teacher at the Allentown School District.
The district said previously Moorehead’s social media posts about the events of Jan. 6, and not just his presence in Washington that day, were the focus of its probe last year.
Moorehead was officially reinstated in July 2021, after the investigation found he had violated the district’s social media policies, but not its outside activities policy.
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“His termination was in no way connected to his activities on that date,” the district’s attorneys John E. Freund, III, and Brian J. Taylor said in a statement. “Mr. Moorehead had the opportunity to return to work for well over a year and chose not to do so.”
Speaking to the board Thursday, Moorehead said the board fed the community lies. He said he was never a part of the violence on Jan. 6, but that the school board painted him as an “active participant in the riots.”
“When the district finally admitted to me privately that I had done nothing wrong and that I could return, they refused to let the community know that I am safe, to alleviate both their fears and my fears about returning,” he said. “I’m being fired for refusing to come to a place that is unsafe, a situation you guys created.”
