“As board president, you unfortunately have no legal authority to decide if a teacher is fired,” Westlake Village resident Kelley Smith said in a response addressed to president Dallas Lawrence and the school board. “The employee was placed on administrative leave, which is not a disciplinary action,” superintendent Dan Stepensoky said. One expert said only the school district superintendent, not the school board, has the authority to unilaterally dismiss a teacher. McKagan is “not an employee a public school should have around children,” said another. Lawrence subsequently told The Acorn: “To be clear, we heard from more Democrats and left-of-center members of our community upset about these social media posts than anyone else.