Former South Fremont band director faces reprimand over school bond video
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ST. ANTHONY — After nearly 20 years of teaching music at South Fremont High School, former band director Matt Bennett says he never imagined that advocating for a better auditorium for his students would result in disciplinary action involving his teaching certificate.
But that’s where Bennett finds himself after complaints were filed alleging he improperly used school property and resources to promote a $17 million school bond in 2025.
Bennett resigned in April amid the controversy. EastIdahoNews.com reached out to him at the time, but he didn’t comment because of pending legal proceedings.
On Nov. 5, Bennett signed an agreement accepting a letter of reprimand from the Idaho Professional Standards Commission, which oversees educator certification. Although he signed the agreement, the document indicates the Professional Standards Commission must also approve it before the disciplinary action becomes final.
The disciplinary action stems from a video Bennett posted on social media in September 2025 explaining the need for a new performing arts auditorium at South Fremont High School. An earlier EastIdahoNews.com article featured the video, which can be viewed below.
While Bennett acknowledges making the video using school resources, he says district administrators encouraged him to help explain the need for the project but failed to support him when complaints surfaced. The $17 million auditorium bond ultimately failed in the November 2025 election, falling short of the required two-thirds majority.
“I feel like the district set me up for failure with no path forward,” Bennett told EastIahoNews.com “My superintendent and school board put me in an impossible situation.”
While the proposed reprimand does become part of Bennett’s teaching certification file, the agreement does not call for suspending or revoking his teaching certificate.
How the complaints began
The controversy dates to September 2025, when Bennett posted a video advocating for a new auditorium at South Fremont High School.
According to documents from the Professional Standards Commission, the video appeared to have been filmed in Bennett’s school office and band room using school technology. Students could also be seen in the background.
The video prompted complaints from Fremont County residents Carl and Chelsea Grafe, whose child was one of Bennett’s students. They questioned whether public school resources were being improperly used to influence voters ahead of the Nov. 4, 2025, bond election.
In an Oct. 21, 2025, complaint to public officials, Carl Grafe specifically accused Bennett of using school facilities, computers, recording equipment and students to promote the bond.
Grafe also alleged Bennett had engaged in similar activities during a previous bond campaign and had continued despite complaints and warnings.
“My efforts at the school district level have not meaningfully curbed Mr. Bennett’s behavior, so I believe escalating this to a higher level is necessary,” Grafe wrote.
Chelsea Grafe filed a separate complaint regarding a Facebook video that shows a student touring South Fremont High School and advocating for the auditorium bond.
She argued that using school property and students for political advocacy could violate Idaho’s Public Integrity in Elections Act, which restricts the use of public resources to support or oppose ballot measures.
On Oct. 24 of last year, she contacted the Idaho Attorney General’s Office, expressing frustration over what she described as a lack of action from local authorities as the election approached.
The district responds
EastIdahoNews.com reached out to Fremont Joint School District 215 Superintendent Dr. Brandon Farris for comment on Bennett’s case and resignation.
While Farris said he was limited in what he could discuss because it involves a personnel matter, he emphasized that school districts must follow state laws governing how they communicate with voters about bond elections.
“The laws are that we educate, not advocate,” Farris said. “We can’t use district facilities as means of promoting how one should vote.”
Under Idaho Code § 74-604, public entities and their employees are prohibited from using public property or resources to advocate for or against a candidate or ballot measure. In other words, school district employees may provide factual information about a proposed bond but cannot use taxpayer-funded resources, including school facilities and equipment, to campaign for or against.
What the state determined
Following an investigation, the executive committee of the Idaho Professional Standards Commission determined there was probable cause to initiate administrative disciplinary proceedings against Bennett.
The commission identified two provisions of Idaho’s Code of Ethics for Professional Educators that it determined Bennett had violated.
One requires educators entrusted with public funds and property to exercise honesty, accuracy and responsibility. The other addresses educators’ professional rights, responsibilities and adherence to recognized professional principles.
Under the proposed agreement, Bennett would receive a letter of reprimand in his certification file.
Bennett says signing the agreement was difficult because he believes he was acting in the best interests of his students.
“It was really hard for me to sign this letter knowing I didn’t do anything except fight for these kids,” Bennett told EastIdahoNews.com.
Bennett disputes the circumstances
Bennett acknowledges producing the video and using his school office and computer to prepare materials about the proposed auditorium. However, he maintains that his intention was to explain the facility’s shortcomings rather than persuade voters to support the bond.
“I am not sorry I spoke up, but I never told voters to vote yes only to come out to vote,” he said.
Bennett questions why he was singled out when, he says, district administrators initially asked him to prepare presentations for three community meetings explaining the need for the facility. He maintains that the superintendent ultimately delivered the presentation instead, but Bennett was told his video could potentially be used later.
Bennett says he initially did not understand the restrictions on the use of school resources in bond campaigns and later sought administrative approval for his materials. He maintains that at least one presentation was approved because it explained the school’s needs without telling voters how to vote. He says he removed the video from social media after a complaint and denies directing students to produce additional campaign videos.
Bennett believes district leadership should have taken responsibility for communicating the school’s needs rather than leaving that task to a music teacher.
“It should never have been just music seeking a bond. It never should have been me promoting it,” he wrote.
His account differs from Carl Grafe’s complaint, which alleges Bennett had been repeatedly warned about similar conduct.
Years of frustration over auditorium space
For Bennett, the disciplinary proceedings are only part of a much longer story involving what he describes as decades of inadequate facilities for South Fremont’s music students.
His concerns date back to 1998, when he was a student at South Fremont High School.
Bennett recalls that plans for the school’s auditorium were scaled back after earlier bond attempts failed, leaving a smaller stage and approximately 300 seats.
He says the auditorium was already too small to accommodate school concerts.
After earning his degree, Bennett began teaching in Driggs before returning to South Fremont in 2006 to lead the band program at his former high school.
Over the next two decades, he says, the program grew into one of the largest in Idaho.
But as participation increased, the auditorium remained inadequate.
Bennett says school concerts frequently required moving instruments, chairs, music stands, sound equipment, lighting and other materials into the gymnasium or transporting them to the junior high school auditorium several blocks away.
“I was ridiculed for how and where I held concerts,” he said.
He says he continued making those arrangements because he believed the district eventually intended to build a suitable performing arts facility.
That hope was renewed during discussions about school facility improvements in 2022 and 2023.
However, a previous bond proposal failed, and Bennett says the auditorium remained an unmet need.
In 2024, the district received approximately $8 million through Idaho’s School Modernization Facilities Fund, according to Bennett. He questioned the decision to prioritize an auxiliary gymnasium, career and technical education classrooms, a greenhouse, and heating and ventilation improvements rather than including the auditorium.
Although he acknowledged those projects addressed district needs, Bennett believed combining athletic and fine arts improvements would have attracted broader voter support.
Bennett subsequently became an outspoken advocate for the proposed $17 million auditorium bond. He also criticized Idaho’s requirement that school bonds receive a two-thirds majority to pass, pointing out that the proposal received just over 50% support but still failed.
Bennett believes music and other fine arts programs were repeatedly overlooked when district officials made decisions about facilities.
“I had to be the voice for the fine arts students who once again, just like back in 1998, were being ignored and pushed aside,” he said.
Why he decided to leave
Bennett says the failed effort to secure a new auditorium was not, by itself, the reason he resigned. He says a combination of factors convinced him it was time to leave the profession he loved.
Those included the complaints against him, the unsuccessful auditorium bond campaign, what he perceived as the district’s emphasis on athletics and the continuing expectation that he move large amounts of equipment to accommodate school concerts.
“I don’t want the public to think that because we didn’t get the auditorium I quit,” Bennett told EastIdahoNews.com.
He says those experiences caused him to reconsider whether he could continue working under the same circumstances.
Although Bennett helped find his replacement and has since moved on to a different career, he believes his former students still deserve answers.
He also says he requested an exit interview with Superintendent Brandon Farris but has yet to receive one.
“I loved my job and the students I taught,” he said. “I guess it had to get real bad for me to change my career.”