When Thurston High School theater staff member Bobby Nove posted “Good” in response to the news of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, the community expected immediate action. Instead, parents and students were met with vague emails, generic condemnations of violence, and promises that the matter was “being addressed.” Days later, Nove’s name was still listed on the school’s website. That silence—and delay—tells parents everything they need to know.
This isn’t about politics. It’s about whether schools are safe places for students, free from the kind of rhetoric that openly celebrates death. Parents flooded the administration with calls and emails, only to receive a carefully worded response that sidestepped the obvious question: why wasn’t decisive action taken the moment this came to light?
Students themselves saw the danger. They staged a walk-out, standing in the cold to say what the adults in charge wouldn’t: endorsing murder, even in a single word, is unacceptable. As one student asked, if a teacher is comfortable cheering one killing, what else are they comfortable excusing?
The district’s statements—that they’re “committed to providing a safe and respectful environment” and “expect educators to model care”—ring hollow when not backed by action. Communities like Thurston know the cost of violence firsthand. To allow an employee to remain on staff after publicly celebrating it sends the opposite message of safety and care.
Other states are already holding teachers accountable for “vile behavior” connected to Kirk’s assassination. Yet in Oregon, the response from Thurston has been slow, quiet, and noncommittal. That delay is not neutrality—it’s complicity.
Parents and students deserve better. Trust in schools is built not through polished statements, but through immediate and transparent accountability. If Thurston wants to regain that trust, it must prove that protecting students matters more than protecting staff who openly cheer political violence. Until then, its silence will continue to speak louder than its words.
Thurston Families- this is our call to you- PULL YOUR KIDS OUT OF SCHOOL. The only thing that matters to Thurston is money and pushing their indoctrination; the only thing they. Be brave and know your children will be just fine- and better off.
