At the Oct. 18 Palisades School Board meeting, residents and board members expressed outrage at the distribution of a political flyer supporting Kathleen Gentner, who is running for school board in Region 2 — representing Durham, Nockamixon and Riegelsville.
Paid for by Just Concerned Citizens, the flyer claims the assignment references a 16-year-old openly gay Bollywood actor and asks students if they would stay on an island with the actor or get a plane out of there.
They claim the flyer selectively excerpted and modified the teacher’s lesson plan to stimulate fear and anger from the community about the district’s curriculum, as a tactic for increasing support for the candidate.
The critics were especially concerned with the flyer’s naming of instructor Allison Burley, saying that doing so was a form of bullying and intimidation toward her and the rest of district staff, as well as students. They also emphasized that channels were readily open for any parent at any time to question any part of their child’s classroom or other district experience.
Those channels start with parent contact with the teacher and principal, or other staff member as needed, and can continue as needed through district administration, the appropriate school board committee, and the nine-member school board that represents each of three regions in the district.
In a statement before the meeting, Superintendent Dr. Bridget O’Connell said that the lesson plan “was designed to prompt a student-led discussion, about different kinds of contributions to society, through ten fictitious characters representing diverse backgrounds.”
“Our district welcomes parent questions and concerns about any lessons in any of our schools. With the exception of this campaign letter, we did not receive any emails, calls, or concerns objecting to the assignment, or taking issue over its content. It is unfortunate that the teacher’s name and an excerpt from the lesson were included without context, rather than reaching out to the teacher and principal for further discussion.”
Board President Silvia LeBlanc summarized that, “(as a community), we need to be better than this (flyer). As elected leaders, we know we can be lightning rods (for grievances). But we signed up for that. Our teachers are not elected officials.”
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