Texts between fired Palmyra teachers filled with racial, homophobic comments, disregard for co-workers, students

PALMYRA, Mo. — A review of three years of text messages between Palmyra teachers and administrators on a school-issued cellphone revealed multiple racial and homophobic comments, as well as comments showing disrespect and disregard for some of the students under their supervision and the teachers they worked with.

The texts were provided to Muddy River News by Palmyra Superintendent Jason Harper after a Sunshine Law request was made on March 21 for copies of all electronic communications sent using email addresses issued by the Palmyra School District and any electronic device — computers, cellphones or iPads — issued by the Palmyra School District.

The request was specific to all electronic communications involving Kevin Miles, Tyler Krietemeyer, Mark Hoerr, Marty Smyser and Brian Wosman, all employees with the Palmyra School District at the time.

Harper released a small sample of text messages and emails on Friday, March 24, that were reviewed by school officials. The names of people were redacted from those documents. On Friday, March 31, Harper released 336 pages of text messages extracted from Smyser’s school-issued cellphone. Smyser was an assistant principal at Palmyra High School.

Harper said the school district also is reviewing emails discovered on another server, but those will not be made available to Muddy River News until next week.

A press release issued Friday afternoon from the Palmyra School District said Hoerr, Krietemeyer, Miles and Smyser had resigned “effective immediately.” No reasons were given for the resignations. Harper told Muddy River News on March 21 that four unnamed staff members with the Palmyra School District were placed on paid leaves of absence.

Miles was the head football coach and a physical education teacher at the high school and had submitted his resignation to the Palmyra School Board during its Nov. 8 meeting.

Miles had coached the Palmyra football team for 12 seasons. The Panthers were winless in 10 games this fall, officially forfeiting six games due to a self-reported violation of Missouri State High School Activities Association bylaws regarding player participation limits. 

Miles also received a one-game disciplinary suspension for season opener at Hallsville from the district administration as the “result of a situation that occurred in an unsupervised locker room.” A group of parents also addressed Palmyra High School administrators and the School Board regarding the culture surrounding Miles’ program. 

He was hired in February to become the football coach and assistant athletic director at Salem (Mo.). High School. He will be the fifth head coach for the Tiger football program in the past six years.

The Palmyra School Board selected Krietemeyer in February to replace Miles as the head football coach. Krietemeyer also taught social science at the high school. Hoerr was an assistant coach on the football team and taught social science at Palmyra Middle School.

Wosman, the school’s athletic director, was not disciplined by the school district.

The following excerpts were taken from the text messages found on Smyser’s phone and the redacted text messages are attached after the excerpts. Some of the language is graphic and profane.

•••

March 19, 2022: A conversation between Miles, Smyser and Krietemeyer about a parent who had complained about Miles.

Miles: “I would just like to know what I did.”
Krietemeyer: “I’m just gana (sic) say it. She is a c**t.”

•••

March 29, 2022: The four men then texted each other to discuss a potential candidate to fill a vacant coaching position at the school.

Krietemeyer: “That’s why they attack KM’s (Miles’) character not his quality as a coach. They think they can dig at him that way, but not through experience.”
Hoerr: “They need somebody to kick their ass.”
Miles: “Hopefully they will all move to QND.”

•••

April 1, 2022: The four men were discussing an incident that happened in the high school weight room one day earlier.

Miles: “I would be the type to push her buttons.”
Krietemeyer: “Oh f**k yah she was being a little b**ch. (Name redacted) held it together better than anyone in the school would have.”

•••

May 6, 2022: Krietemeyer and Smyser talked about the aftermath of a fight. Krietemeyer said he and two other teachers had to patrol the hallways after they finished lunch.

Krietemeyer: “ … made sure nothing else happened as he sat at the lunch table and never moved and (name redacted) hid in the office.”
Smyser: “Wow.”
Krietemeyer: “It was a train wreck but did provide me with an opportunity to be a dick to (name redacted) in the hallway which was a win.”
Smyser: “Bahahahaha. Was the kid that got attacked OK?”
Krietemeyer: “Who cares? It was (name redacted).”

•••

May 9, 2022: Krietemeyer, Miles and Smyser are talking about Miles becoming an assistant varsity wrestling coach.

Krietemeyer: “I hope so. What it sounds like.”
Smyser: “You guys can be the ambiguously gay trio.”
Krietemeyer: “Lol. Boom! I’m pumped to see you at Saturday 6 a.m. practices.”
Miles: “Ya no”
Krietemeyer: “Wonder who the 2 guys are?”
Krietemeyer: “If it’s (name redacted) I’m going to kill them all and myself in a murder suicide.”

•••

May 10, 2022: Miles and Smyser discuss chatter on social media about a fight at the high school.

Smyser: “In all seriousness, I’m starting to regret taking the job at the high school, and I’m not even there. It may not be fixable at this point if this is what is happening all the time.”
Miles: “Just come in guns a blazing … kill them all.”

•••

May 11, 2022: Miles, Krietemeyer and Hoerr discussed a new teaching hire, then Smyser joins in when Miles informs the group of some news.

Hoerr: “Looked him up on Facebook … I think he’s right out of college.”
Miles: “WTF …”
Miles: “Looks like a gay tard.”
Miles: “Should fit right in … probably likes DC Comics.”
Miles: “Looks like a SS teacher … lol … probably coaches wrestling also … “
Krietemeyer: “How the f**k is this gay the hire”
Miles: “(Name redacted) just said he wasn’t playing football.”
Smyser: “Why? LOL Too hard”
Miles: “Said he didn’t have fun”
Krietemeyer: “F**kem all”

•••

May 12, 2022: Miles, Hoerr and Smyser talk about a student who had just quit the football team. (Some comments in the thread are not included below.)

Miles: “(Name redacted) just quit football.”
Hoerr: “What a waste of space”
Smyser: “It’s the fashionable thing to do”
Miles: “Yep”
Smyser: “(Name redacted) is pissed. I told him to walk up to these losers and tell them they suck for quitting on their teammates.”
Hoerr: “What are we doing wrong? Why do kids hate football all of a sudden?”
Miles: “Losing last year … p**s poor attitudes of seniors”
Krietemeyer: “I just want to trim all the fat away and enjoy it with the kid that want to be here. The young guys and (name redacted) have been awesome at weight room. I want all the kids who are quitting to suck at all their other sports and get caught (having oral sex) for drugs in the high school bathroom.”

•••

May 19, 2022: Krietemeyer has random conversation with Smyser.

Krietemeyer: “Gana (sic) build a bomb one day.”
Smyser: (Laughed at Krietemeyer’s comment)
Krietemeyer: “Not saying if it will be used for bad or good, but it will be built.”

•••

May 25, 2022: Smyser tells Krietemeyer and Miles who he met at a local restaurant.

Smyser: “Came to El Nopal. (Name redacted) was here and so was (name redacted). I didn’t waive (sic) at either of them.”
Krietemeyer: “Lol meeting of the minds.”
Smyser: “They weren’t together. Lol. But it was like, ‘F this. I just want food, and now I’m stuck looking at you two dipsh**s.’”
Miles: “Lol”
Krietemeyer: “I dread going in El Nopal because it seems like that always happens.”

•••

Sept. 21, 2022: Miles, Hoerr and Smyser talk about one of the football players.

Miles: “(Name redacted) is worthless.”
Hoerr: “Lol why?”
Smyser: “Lol”
Miles: “Just watching him … doesn’t want to box jump … ask him why says stomach hurts just lazy … lol”
Hoerr: “Soft”

•••

Oct. 10, 2022: The four teachers talk about another football player.

Miles: “(Name redacted) just asked if it was OK if he didn’t come to (name redacted) since he didn’t play …”
Smyser: “Not surprised. Needs to go home and eat some potato salad.”
Hoerr: “Yikes.”
Krietemeyer: “F**k them all at this point.”
Miles: “No desire to try and improve.”
Krietemeyer: “They have no clue what it takes.”
Smyser: “Lazy, fat, worthless, loser.”

•••

Oct. 20, 2022: The four teachers learn in the morning Harper has requested a document tracking the number of quarters each member of the football team has played. Miles has more news later in the day.

Miles: “Now he wants access to our film.”
Krietemeyer: “Great. Wouldn’t he already have it through (name redacted)?”
Hoerr: “Wtf”
Hoerr: “I don’t understand”
Hoerr: “Like I don’t understand why he’s such a tool”
Miles: “Agreed small p**p**”

•••

Dec. 12, 2022: The teachers text each other about another teacher. Smyser, however, doesn’t participate.

Miles: “(Unnamed teacher) is in the gym this morning”
Krietemeyer: “Doing what?”
Miles: “Playing basketball”
Krietemeyer: “Wtf”
Hoerr: “We got some weird mother (expletive deleted) working here”

•••

Dec. 13, 2022: Krietemeyer and Hoerr discuss a loss earlier in the night in a wrestling match.

Krietemeyer: “We f**king suck”
Hoerr: “Who”
Krietemeyer: “Knob Noster bent us over”
Hoerr: “The f**k is Knob Noster”
Hoerr: “Sounds like a gay porno”

•••

Dec. 23, 2022: The teachers text each other about wrestling. Smyser doesn’t participate.

Hoerr: “Wrestling is so gayyyy”
Krietemeyer: “Just sent it to Wosman”
Miles: “F Them”
Krietemeyer: “Wosman just asked if (name redacted) had responded and I said you and I both know he won’t”
Hoerr: “Wrestling is … homosexual”
Miles: “Stupid”

•••

The Missouri Open Records Act ensures citizens can have access to information about the actions taken by the state’s governmental bodies, including city, county and state government and related agencies, and law enforcement organizations in the state. It establishes a process for requesting records and delineates what information a public body is permitted to keep confidential.

Vincenzo Iuppa, associate general counsel for the Missouri National Educators Association, wrote on the MNEA website the Sunshine Act can provide access to emails and documents used or created by administrators as well as other education employees.

“Emails sent using district technology and documents stored on district servers can potentially be the subject of a Sunshine request,” Iuppa wrote on his Oct. 24, 2022 post. “When those emails or documents are related to specific students, there may be legal protections for disclosure, but there are few protections otherwise. This means that if you use your work email to discuss personal matters or to conduct local organizing, you may be opening all those messages up to the public.”

Below are the 336 pages of text messages extracted from Smyser’s phone (They are broken into four files because of their size). Muddy River News would like to remind you that some of the language used is graphic.