(The Center Square) – A Putnam County Community Unit School District #535 paraprofessional is facing criticism after a social media post referencing President Donald Trump and Air Force One circulated online, prompting questions about school employee conduct outside the classroom and calls from a parent advocacy organization for accountability.
The post gained wider attention after being shared by conservative media outlet Libs of TikTok and circulated among parents and community members.
In a statement provided to The Center Square, Putnam County Community Unit School District #535 said it became aware of a comment reportedly made by a district paraprofessional on social media and was reviewing the matter.
“Late this morning, the District became aware of a comment reportedly posted by a District paraprofessional on social media, which is now circulating on various platforms,” the district said. “While the District does not comment publicly on individual personnel matters, the District is reviewing the information it has received.”
The district did not identify the employee or provide additional details about the review.
Shannon Adcock, founder of the parent advocacy organization Awake Illinois, criticized the post and argued it reflects broader concerns about political hostility and culture within public schools.
“Unfortunately, parents are handing their kids over daily to death cultists like Kelly Sarton, a taxpayer-funded K-12 paraprofessional in Putnam County Illinois School District 535, who freely posted how unfortunate it is that President Trump didn’t die in a plane crash,” Adcock said.
Adcock said she believes school employees should face consequences for comments she described as celebrating political violence.
“School staff are free to be stupid and make social media posts celebrating political violence,” Adcock said. “And parents are equally free to fight back.”
Adcock, who previously ran for school board, used the controversy to criticize what she described as a broader ideological divide in public education. She said parents who disagree with current school policies should consider alternative education options, including homeschooling.
“I ran for school board as a non-woke mom, and Democrats in the teacher union did everything they could to stop me,” Adcock said. “This is the rotten culture of lunatics that results.”
She also criticized the district’s academic performance, citing reported proficiency levels of 36% in math and 53% in reading, and argued schools should focus more on student achievement.
“Teacher unions and decades of leftist control have enabled this insanity long enough,” Adcock said. “Homeschooling is now the fastest growing education choice in America for good reason.”
The controversy highlights ongoing national debates over how public employees’ personal social media activity should be handled, particularly when posts involve political figures or issues that can affect public trust in government institutions.
As previously reported by The Center Square, schools and other government organizations are paying out hundreds of thousands of dollars, and sometimes millions, in lawsuit settlements after disciplining employees over comments about Charlie Kirk’s assassinations.
Most of the posts, which were viewed as celebrating Kirk’s death, were on personal social media pages and were reposted online. Collectively, the comments were not complimentary to Kirk.
The settlements amounts range from nearly $300,000 to $1.9 million.
Aaron Terr, public policy director for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, known as FIRE, said in an interview with The Center Square that any anger about the money paid in these settlements should be directed at the government.
“Yes, there may be that short-term cost that may be kind of painful, but the idea is that it’s going to deter similar types of constitutional violations by the government in the future,” Terr said. “And I would say that’s where the public should be directing its ire, not at the people who are trying to vindicate their rights, because this is the only way they can do it, but at the government for violating their rights.”
