Video Shows Texas Teacher Saying Conservative Christians 'Need To Get COVID And Die'

KEY POINTS

The teacher had been working at Colleyville Middle School
She was initially placed on leave before she resigned from her position
The GCISD Board also signaled support for placing the teacher on leave following the remarks

A teacher in North Texas middle school has resigned after a video showing her saying “conservative Christians should get COVID-19 and die” went viral.

Lisa Grimes, a teacher of Colleyville Middle School, was seen talking in the hallway with two other colleagues about political issues and the COVID-19 vaccine. At one point, Grimes was heard saying conservative Christians should die, adding that their views on vaccines were prolonging the pandemic.

“We have a political system that will not allow us to (inaudible) so we’re vaccinating like the flu … which is, you know … get the flu vaccine if you want but you can’t — don’t ‘tread on me.’ (crosstalk) But it’s too late,” the teacher was filmed as saying.

“The rest of my life is impacted because of politics? Because of conservative Christian crap? (crosstalk) I’m telling you, those conservative Christians … they need to die … they need to get covid and die.”

The video was allegedly provided by a family from the school to Dallas-based conservative talk-radio host Dana Loesch. The Grapevine-Colleyville ISD (GCISD) on Wednesday published a letter to parents where they announced that the teacher who had been filmed making the inflammatory comments was placed on administrative leave.

On Thursday, the GCISD released an update saying that Grimes filed for resignation and will no longer be returning to the classroom. The district has also given assurances that students previously under Grimes will experience as little disruption in their learning as possible. The GCISD also emphasized that the teacher’s views did not reflect the opinions of other employees in the school or the district.

Later that afternoon, GCISD Board President Jorge Rodriguez released a message in support of placing Grimes on leave, saying the board "strongly rejects the expressions" made in the video.

The video comes more than two years after health officials confirmed the first case of COVID-19 in the U.S. on Jan. 20, 2020.

As of Thursday, more than 215 million Americans had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, representing 64.8% of the population. At least 253 million or 76.3% of the American population has received at least one dose of the vaccine, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.