MARYLAND, US: A social media manager at a school in Frederick, Maryland was fired from the job for ‘correcting student’s misspelled tweet.’
Katie Nash was managing the Twitter feed for the Frederick County Public Schools. On Jan. 5,
“one student tweeted to the school’s account, asking to close schools “tammarow.”
@FCPSMaryland‘s new celebrity: #KatiefromFCPS and her infamous tweet https://t.co/26b1kNPouV via @jbeowulf pic.twitter.com/uQ7QvFr4ju
— Frederick News-Post (@frednewspost) January 10, 2017
Nash responded through @FCPSMaryland, “But then how would you learn how to spell ‘tomorrow?’ :)”
The tweet drew more than 1,000 retweets and likes and even earned a hashtag, #KatiefromFCPS, according to the News-Post.
Nash and the student exchanged other tweets and the student insisted that he didn’t mind the lighthearted spelling correction. Nash told the News-Post that she was initially told not to tweet anymore, but still had access to the Twitter account.
She added that she continued to tweet out school updates, but at the end of the school day Friday she was told she had been fired. She began working as the school district’s web experience coordinator in November, the News-Post reported.
The tweets have since been deleted.
. @FCPSMaryland is more than a single person. TY to all who have expressed love this week. It isn’t about #katiefromFCPS or #FreeKatie …
— Katie Nash (@katienash) January 13, 2017
Michael Doerrer, a district spokesman, told the News-Post that Nash was no longer employed with the school system, but he couldn’t comment on the circumstances.
“Any social media manager is looking for increasing engagement, and that’s sort of the expected parameter,” she said. “I think a conversation about how we engage with students would have been completely appropriate and I would have welcomed that.”
One group has organized an online petition to urge the school district to give Nash her job back.
I applaud #katiefromFCPS for knowing her audience. @FCPSMaryland board, don’t be on social media unless you want to be social.
— Colleen Murphy (@ColleenMurphDog) January 10, 2017