


A school board member in Charlottesville, Virginia, has become embroiled in calls for her resignation after she compared Turning Point USA to the Ku Klux Klan in a now-deleted social media post.
Allison Spillman, an at-large representative of Albemarle County Public Schools, posted the politically charged comparison on Tuesday concerning a meeting that the TPUSA chapter at Western Albemarle High School was set to host.
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The high school briefly canceled the meeting before reversing course. The school’s decision inspired the disgruntled school board member to speak out.
“As a school board member and proud parent of a trans student I am beyond livid,” she wrote on Facebook. “In my opinion this is not a matter of free speech, it’s hate speech and has no place in our schools. If the KKK wanted a speaker during lunch would we allow that as well?”
Spillman then argued the TPUSA meeting violated school board policy.
“If this makes you angry too then I encourage you to email our school board and the school admin and let them know,” she continued. “Shame on ACPS.”
She was immediately met with backlash from social media users, who are asking the school board to fire her. Among her critics is Philip Hamilton, a Republican candidate in the 2027 Virginia Senate race.
“Allison Spillman’s speech is endangering the students who are part of Turning Point USA at the Western Albemarle High School and she has violated the trust of the public,” Hamilton wrote on X.
“We need to get people to email and call Allison Spillman to call for her resignation,” Hamilton said. “We also need people to come the next Albemarle County School Board meeting with signs stating that ‘Spillman needs to resign.'”
The next school board meeting is scheduled for Oct. 9 from 6:30 p.m., per the school district’s website.
After seemingly deleting her post, Spillman shared two photos that call on people to love rather than hate one another.
The high school TPUSA chapter’s lunchtime meeting appears to have taken place on Wednesday as planned, with Family Foundation of Virginia President Victoria Cobb speaking on transgenderism in a presentation titled “Two Genders, One Truth.”
Cobb had her own response to Spillman’s message.
“With two arrests for death threats against Virginia conservative leaders in just the last few days, her remarks are highly irresponsible and even dangerous,” Cobb said in a statement shared by her organization. “As someone entrusted with children’s education, a school board member must model civil dialogue and respect for all. Instead, her reckless words do the opposite. Parents expect better.”
In a lengthy statement provided to the Washington Examiner, Spillman defended her remarks.
“The remarks I made were aimed at the content of the invited speaker’s message, which I believe denies the identities of transgender students and contributes to a hostile environment for them,” she said.
“In raising the example of the Ku Klux Klan, my intent was not to equate students involved in any club with that organization. Rather, I was drawing a parallel about the principle of setting boundaries for outside speakers who promote harmful or exclusionary ideas. We would not invite openly racist or antisemitic speakers into our schools. Similarly, we must question whether it is appropriate to host a speaker whose message invalidates the existence of transgender students,” she added.
“I aimed to raise the very salient question: What, if any, procedures are in place to vet any third parties proposed to be invited into our schools to interact directly with students? And if they result in such a speaker being invited to address our students in our schools, shouldn’t they be reexamined?” she said.
‘SUSPICIOUS DEVICE’ DETONATED AT TURNING POINT’S FIRST EVENT IN UTAH SINCE KIRK ASSASSINATION
The Washington Examiner also contacted the Albemarle County School District and TPUSA for comment on the situation.
The incident comes weeks after the assassination of TPUSA co-founder Charlie Kirk at a Utah university campus, where he led a speaking engagement in front of some 3,000 attendees. Kirk himself was frequently called a “Nazi” and compared to the KKK both before and after his murder.