For any reasonable individual, protecting children from people who engage in sexual deviance and celebrate political violence should be a no-brainer. Yet the events that unfolded in Twin Falls, Idaho, involving one concerned mother and substitute teacher, leave us wondering.
On October 1, 2025, Cierra Clarke — a substitute teacher and parent of a 1st grader at Rock Creek Elementary School — sent an anonymous email to the school district voicing concerns about one of her son's teachers, Timothy Hafer. Prior to the email, she reported having unease about Hafer after observing what she called “disorder” in his classroom. According to her account, his curriculum also felt “off.” When she raised these concerns with school staff, she was told not to worry because the teacher was new and would “figure it out.”
Clarke decided to conduct a quick Google search to learn more about Hafer’s background, and what she found was deeply disturbing. She reported seeing a social media post referring to him cross-dressing and videos of him engaging in vile depictions of sexual acts, which included masturbation, defecation, and sexual noises. Additionally, some of the content from an account linked to him included politically charged comments celebrating the death of Charlie Kirk.
Believing the content to be deeply inappropriate for someone entrusted with young children, she sent an anonymous email to the Twin Falls School District describing what she had found. Within hours, she claims some images were removed, videos were taken down, and several accounts were made private. Despite her concerns, she reported the teacher remained in the classroom the following day.
When Clarke contacted the district office, she reported being told the videos were protected free speech because they were made before the teacher’s employment with the school. Further, she was told the teacher was “artistic” and that this was simply his form of self-expression.
What?!
The situation rapidly escalated, and by approximately 5 p.m. on October 2 — the very next day after she sent the email — the school had removed her from all her substitute teaching shifts. She followed up with communications to her reporting supervisor that evening, but never heard back. Afterwards, she sent a text message to the school principal, Lisa Gebbie, questioning the decision and stating she had not been allowed to explain herself. She proceeded to ask for a formal meeting with her son’s elective teachers, the school administration, and the teacher in question. This request was reportedly denied.
Instead, on October 3, she met with Principal Gebbie and Elementary School Director Nancy Murphy. She described the meeting as hostile and said she was presented with a list of rules rather than an opportunity to speak. When she attempted to show a sexually explicit video allegedly involving the teacher and asked how administrators could be comfortable allowing him to work with children, she reportedly was told to “get the h*** out.”
Clarke had kept her son home from school that day because she did not feel safe sending him to class while Hafer was still teaching him. After being told to leave, Clarke complied, and the assistant principal retrieved her son's belongings while she waited in the front office, but she stated she was subsequently threatened with having the police called on her for trespassing. Not more than an hour later, she received a call from law enforcement regarding a trespass complaint.
Clarke then appealed to the school board, which convened on October 6, where she was given the chance to speak during the “executive session” of that meeting. Hafer, his lawyer, and the rest of the school administration were all present for her statement. Once she had finished, she reported that she was asked to leave while Hafer delivered his rebuttal. Earlier the same day, Clarke was officially fired for using “unprofessional language,” which she said was in response to the thought of her children being in danger. This “violation” occurred when she was told Hafer was being artistic and there was nothing wrong with the videos. On October 7, a substitute teacher reportedly appeared in the classroom in place of Hafer.
The Idaho Freedom Foundation reached out to Rock Creek Elementary School for comment from Principal Gebbie, but received no response from her or other school administrators.
On October 16, she received a cease-and-desist letter from Hafer’s lawyer, and on October 23, Clarke submitted a complaint alleging Hafer violated the Code of Ethics for Idaho Professional Educators, but received a letter back on December 18 stating that no violation had occurred.
In late November, after following up on Hafer’s certification status, Clarke reported she learned he had not been fired. Instead, he appears to have been transferred to work as a drama teacher at a high school in the same district.
Shocked and disillusioned by the lack of care the school district displayed for the children in their care, Cierra and her husband chose to remove their children from the district and are now homeschooling them. Additionally, the situation led Clarke to open a Moms for Liberty Chapter for Twin Falls County to help promote transparency and accountability for schools.
This situation leaves all Idahoans with a question we cannot ignore: Who is the system really protecting? When a parent raises concerns about a teacher publishing explicit content, statements of political violence, and crossing professional boundaries — and the response is retaliation and silence rather than transparency — the problem is no longer just about the public and private behavior of individuals who are working with children, but an institutional failure. Schools demand trust from families, yet trust is earned through accountability, not intimidation. Until school districts are willing to hold higher ethical standards for those they employ, conduct real vetting during the hiring process, and treat concerned parents as partners instead of threats, confidence in public education will continue to erode.
What teachers do in their private lives matters because they are entrusted with our most precious responsibility: children. Educators are not merely employees; they are authority figures, role models, and daily influences on young, developing minds. When a teacher’s publicly available behavior includes explicit sexual content, simulated sexual acts, or the glorification of violence, it raises concerns about judgment, boundaries, and fitness for the classroom.
Parents have the duty to stand up to school districts allowing this type of authority figure to instruct in their schools, and school districts have a duty to the families they serve to employ people of high character and morals.
Finally, one of the worst outcomes from this episode is the chilling effect it will have on parents and school professionals who might see questionable, illicit, predatory, or other unacceptable behaviors from their colleagues, but will be hesitant to speak out, for fear of becoming the next Cierra Clarke. Silence on these matters harms children; schools should encourage parents and professionals to speak up when they see something concerning.
Parental vigilance comes at a cost, but silence almost certainly costs far more.
