Kentucky school principals will not be disciplined over anti-Muslim email

CARLISLE COUNTY, Ky. – With a simple click of the mouse, an e-mail was sent on its way Sept. 16. It went from the high school principal to the elementary school principal, then to an entire school faculty. One of the readers, who declined to share her name, remembers reading it, “I was just appalled that school e-mail would be used to send something so hateful.”

It was a forwarded e-mail that read, in part, Muslim women were “slaves” who were “hit” by their husbands. It also claimed Muslims were planning an attack on Americans. “The Muslims are planning a great jihad against America. Arise, be viligant and don’t let it happen,” the woman shared, reading from the e-mail. She read it over and over, each time a new sentence catching her eye like this one: “They have an Army that is willing to shed blood in the name of Islam.”

The Carlisle County School District has anti-discrimination policy. But Superintendent Dr. Keith Shoulders said the e-mail did not violate school policy because the women in question were not the authors and had simply forwarded it. “The real thing it violates is our technology policy that school e-mail should be used for school work,” Shoulders said Thursday.

No disciplinary action will be taken against the two principals.

The woman we talked to has contacted the ACLU. The group’s William Sharpe confirmed they sent an open records request to the district to obtain the e-mail. Superintendent Shoulders said he had received the request. Sharpe told Local 6 the ACLU wants to investigate further before deciding whether to press on with the case.

WPSD-TV, 28 October 2010