A Lincoln-area school board voted unanimously to dismiss a teacher last month because of his comments on the shooting of Charlie Kirk.
Members of the RSU 67 School Board, which covers Lincoln, Mattawamkeag and Chester, voted on Dec. 17 to dismiss social studies teacher Derek Brewer from the district because of comments he made in September. The vote came after an executive session.
In the weeks following Kirk’s assassination, teachers across Maine and the country faced scrutiny over their comments about the shooting. Brewer’s comments incited a group of parents to protest at the school and sparked a chaotic school board meeting in September that led to a board member’s resignation.
Brewer talked about the shooting to his students during class the day after Kirk was assassinated, Board Chair Rebecca Hanscom said during the Dec. 17 board meeting. His comments violated district policy because he used his classroom as a “personal forum.”
“On Sept. 11, 2025, one day after Charlie Kirk was assassinated, Mattanawcook Academy social studies teacher Derek Brewer told one of his freshman social studies classes that, number one, he didn’t care that Charlie Kirk had died; and, number two, he found it ironic that Charlie Kirk was shot, referencing a video clip he had seen in which Charlie Kirk stated that a few people have to be shot in order to protect Second Amendment rights,” Hanscom said at the meeting.
Brewer did not respond to a request for comment.
Brewer’s comments led to a loss of confidence from the school community, Hanscom said.
Since Sept. 11, 17 families said they wouldn’t let their children attend Brewer’s class, Hanscom said. When news of Brewer’s comments spread, “99 students were marked as having an unexcused absence and/or an unexcused early dismissal,” Hanscom said.
Several parents have pulled their children out of the district to be homeschooled since Sept. 11, Hanscom said.
Based on Brewer violating district policy and parents pulling their children and saying they won’t let their children attend his class culminated in the board saying he is “unfit to teach, and his services are unprofitable to RSU 67,” Hanscom said.
Hanscom did not respond to a request for comment.
The School Board announced Andrew Funaro’s resignation on Oct. 1. Funaro resigned after he slapped the phone out of a social media influencer’s hand at the Sept. 17 school board meeting. Funaro and the influencer, Tim Bodnar, got into an altercation when Bodnar said the board wasn’t taking enough action following Brewer’s comments.