Tuesday, October 05, 2004
Response to Principal email
It's long, but I want to give the school district equal time:
Thank you for your comments. Below I am including and attaching a statement
from the District that was released to the press Sunday, October 3, 2004
with the facts surrounding the incident. Hopefully these facts will help
clarify the situation.
October 3, 2004
District Statement Regarding Bulletin Board at Crossroads Middle School
In an incident that has recently been reported to several media sources, a
claim has been made by South Brunswick Middle School teacher Shiba
Pillai-Diaz, that she was fired for not removing a picture of President
George W. Bush from a classroom bulletin board. The claim is false. While
I am normally reluctant to discuss personnel matters in public, Ms.
Pillai-Diaz¹ distortions of the facts, along with her aggressive efforts to
get herself national media attention, leaves the district no choice but to
set the record straight.
The facts are as follows:
Ms. Pillai-Diaz is a new Language Arts teacher in the South Brunswick
Schools. Recently, the school administration began receiving complaints
from students and parents that Ms. Pillai-Diaz was using her position,
classroom and teaching time to engage in partisan politics. Students
reported that she had made statements which denigrated one party over the
other. The conversations included Ms. Pillai-Diaz telling some students who
offered opinions contrary to her statements, that she was ³glad they were
not old enough to vote.² Other comments to students, including such
statements as, ³you should be ashamed to be a Democrat² have been verified
through student interviews.
A classroom bulletin board, normally intended for curriculum-related
matters, was set up as what she herself described as a ³personal bulletin
board.² On the bulletin board she placed a picture of the President, the
President's dog, the Oval Office and several other Presidential artifacts.
In addition, she placed a stuffed elephant on a classroom cabinet, which
generated student reaction and discussion about partisan politics.
Following receipt of complaints from parents, the Assistant Principal met
with Ms. Pillai-Diaz and cautioned her not to engage in partisan political
discussions in her Language Arts classes. He did not initially ask her to
remove the picture of the President. As the issue grew in intensity, the
teacher herself chose to remove the stuffed elephant because of student
comments. In the ensuing days, parents expressed increasing concern about
the teacher's classroom behavior, the misuse of classroom instructional time
and the personal bulletin board. The level of concern resulted in a
classroom confrontation between some parents and Ms. Pillai-Diaz at the
Back-to-School night program. It was at this point that the school
administration decided to intervene again.
On Friday morning, October 1, Ms. Pillai-Diaz was directed by the Assistant
Principal to remove bulletin board materials because they were being viewed
as contributing to an ongoing disruption of the teaching-learning
environment. She refused. She then met with the Principal who repeated
the directive. At this point, Ms. Pillai-Diaz abruptly left the building,
abandoning her post of duty and her classroom responsibilities.
At no time was she told to leave, asked to leave or given authorization to
leave. School was still in session. At no time was she told she was
suspended or fired. With professional responsibilities of a classroom
teacher waiting, Ms. Pillai-Diaz chose, of her own volition, to walk out of
the school, contact various media sources and claim she had been fired.
I had occasion to meet with Ms. Pillai-Diaz, along with a union
representative and a police escort that she had requested, for approximately
two hours when she returned to the building later that same afternoon. After
listening to her story, I asked if any member of the administration had used
the phrase "you're fired" or anything that remotely sounded like it. She
admitted that no one had used any such language. When I further pursued why
she reported to media sources that she had been fired, she said that she
"thought" that she had been. I explained that principals cannot fire
employees, that only Boards of Education can do so. With her union
representative present, she said that she now understood. I asked that when
she next spoke with the media, that she clarify her new understanding.
I fully support the actions of the Principal and Assistant Principal. It is
never acceptable for a teacher to utilize the classroom to advocate for
political purposes or advance personal beliefs. The courts have always
admonished teachers for proselytizing in public school classrooms. This
issue is not about a picture of the President, but rather a zealous misuse
of seventh and eighth grade student instructional time.
The South Brunswick School community is enormously respectful of the Office
of the President of the United States, President Bush and the democratic
process for choosing our President. Anyone trying to suggest the contrary
has the worst of intentions. Under other circumstances, the display of a
picture of the President would have been viewed as completely appropriate
and uncontroversial. It is important to note that pictures of President Bush
are openly displayed in all of the South Brunswick Schools. The teacher¹s
own actions here, however, took it out of the realm of education and made
the presentation appear partisan to many of our students and parents. Under
these circumstances, our actions in directing the removal of the display
were singularly appropriate.
Gary P. McCartney Ed D.
Superintendent of Schools
South Brunswick School District
The whole story here may or may not come out. Ms Pillai-Diaz may or may not have contributed to this situation. If it turns out that the situation was not as it was portrayed in the previous article posted, I'll do the right thing and apologize to all involved. But even the school district's account said that Ms Pillai-Diaz was asked to remove the President's picture, so as not to "appear partisan to many of our students and parents". Regardless of what she might have done previous to that, it is absolutely wrong and I still maintain that caving into this kind of political pressure is a terrible example to the kids.
I'll post any updates I receive.
Thank you for your comments. Below I am including and attaching a statement
from the District that was released to the press Sunday, October 3, 2004
with the facts surrounding the incident. Hopefully these facts will help
clarify the situation.
October 3, 2004
District Statement Regarding Bulletin Board at Crossroads Middle School
In an incident that has recently been reported to several media sources, a
claim has been made by South Brunswick Middle School teacher Shiba
Pillai-Diaz, that she was fired for not removing a picture of President
George W. Bush from a classroom bulletin board. The claim is false. While
I am normally reluctant to discuss personnel matters in public, Ms.
Pillai-Diaz¹ distortions of the facts, along with her aggressive efforts to
get herself national media attention, leaves the district no choice but to
set the record straight.
The facts are as follows:
Ms. Pillai-Diaz is a new Language Arts teacher in the South Brunswick
Schools. Recently, the school administration began receiving complaints
from students and parents that Ms. Pillai-Diaz was using her position,
classroom and teaching time to engage in partisan politics. Students
reported that she had made statements which denigrated one party over the
other. The conversations included Ms. Pillai-Diaz telling some students who
offered opinions contrary to her statements, that she was ³glad they were
not old enough to vote.² Other comments to students, including such
statements as, ³you should be ashamed to be a Democrat² have been verified
through student interviews.
A classroom bulletin board, normally intended for curriculum-related
matters, was set up as what she herself described as a ³personal bulletin
board.² On the bulletin board she placed a picture of the President, the
President's dog, the Oval Office and several other Presidential artifacts.
In addition, she placed a stuffed elephant on a classroom cabinet, which
generated student reaction and discussion about partisan politics.
Following receipt of complaints from parents, the Assistant Principal met
with Ms. Pillai-Diaz and cautioned her not to engage in partisan political
discussions in her Language Arts classes. He did not initially ask her to
remove the picture of the President. As the issue grew in intensity, the
teacher herself chose to remove the stuffed elephant because of student
comments. In the ensuing days, parents expressed increasing concern about
the teacher's classroom behavior, the misuse of classroom instructional time
and the personal bulletin board. The level of concern resulted in a
classroom confrontation between some parents and Ms. Pillai-Diaz at the
Back-to-School night program. It was at this point that the school
administration decided to intervene again.
On Friday morning, October 1, Ms. Pillai-Diaz was directed by the Assistant
Principal to remove bulletin board materials because they were being viewed
as contributing to an ongoing disruption of the teaching-learning
environment. She refused. She then met with the Principal who repeated
the directive. At this point, Ms. Pillai-Diaz abruptly left the building,
abandoning her post of duty and her classroom responsibilities.
At no time was she told to leave, asked to leave or given authorization to
leave. School was still in session. At no time was she told she was
suspended or fired. With professional responsibilities of a classroom
teacher waiting, Ms. Pillai-Diaz chose, of her own volition, to walk out of
the school, contact various media sources and claim she had been fired.
I had occasion to meet with Ms. Pillai-Diaz, along with a union
representative and a police escort that she had requested, for approximately
two hours when she returned to the building later that same afternoon. After
listening to her story, I asked if any member of the administration had used
the phrase "you're fired" or anything that remotely sounded like it. She
admitted that no one had used any such language. When I further pursued why
she reported to media sources that she had been fired, she said that she
"thought" that she had been. I explained that principals cannot fire
employees, that only Boards of Education can do so. With her union
representative present, she said that she now understood. I asked that when
she next spoke with the media, that she clarify her new understanding.
I fully support the actions of the Principal and Assistant Principal. It is
never acceptable for a teacher to utilize the classroom to advocate for
political purposes or advance personal beliefs. The courts have always
admonished teachers for proselytizing in public school classrooms. This
issue is not about a picture of the President, but rather a zealous misuse
of seventh and eighth grade student instructional time.
The South Brunswick School community is enormously respectful of the Office
of the President of the United States, President Bush and the democratic
process for choosing our President. Anyone trying to suggest the contrary
has the worst of intentions. Under other circumstances, the display of a
picture of the President would have been viewed as completely appropriate
and uncontroversial. It is important to note that pictures of President Bush
are openly displayed in all of the South Brunswick Schools. The teacher¹s
own actions here, however, took it out of the realm of education and made
the presentation appear partisan to many of our students and parents. Under
these circumstances, our actions in directing the removal of the display
were singularly appropriate.
Gary P. McCartney Ed D.
Superintendent of Schools
South Brunswick School District
The whole story here may or may not come out. Ms Pillai-Diaz may or may not have contributed to this situation. If it turns out that the situation was not as it was portrayed in the previous article posted, I'll do the right thing and apologize to all involved. But even the school district's account said that Ms Pillai-Diaz was asked to remove the President's picture, so as not to "appear partisan to many of our students and parents". Regardless of what she might have done previous to that, it is absolutely wrong and I still maintain that caving into this kind of political pressure is a terrible example to the kids.
I'll post any updates I receive.
papijoe 10:31 AM
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