Afraid Besides the regionalization question, which is a decision that should clearly be made by the residents, parents and taxpayers, of the regional school district and Sea Bright, Henry Hudson Regional Board of Education has a far more serious problem that should be addressed immediately.
Parents, teachers, and employees, are afraid to express their opinions and the Board of Educaton needs to find out the reason why.
Since last week’s board of education meeting, when half a dozen or so parents stood up to complain about several different untoward situations in the Atlantic Highlands elementary school, one of the three schools in the Henry Hudson district, VeniVidiScripto has posted three stories stemming from that meeting. Since the first story went online the day after the meeting, and the other two within the last 48 hours, more than 10,000 readers have read at least one of those stories, if not all three.
That’s a lot of interest in a story about a Prek-6th grade classroom school in a small two town school district..
The stories have prompted lots of messages of all kinds to VeniVIdiScripto. Employees of the district who are afraid to talk for fear of losing their jobs, or being reprimanded, or yelled at. Teachers of the district who are afraid of their own jobs or not being able to teach in their own manner; parents who are afraid of retaliation against their child should it be known they are complaining about something.
There seems to be an awful lot of fear of speaking their own truths.
So perhaps, given that information it is not so strange there is a dearth of comments from those 10,000 readers.
Facebook and so much of social media is the playground for Keyboard Warriors. It’s the place lots of folks like to go to express their opinions on everything from the cost of a beer in a particular restaurant to speculation on why blue lights are flashing in a certain part of the highway late at night. Given that, it was obviously and immediately strange that more than 10,000 readers looked at stories about Henry Hudson and yet very few, less than a dozen, put up any comments, pro or con.
Lots of folks read it, yet few have an opinion to express?
That’s strange.
Bravo to the parents who spoke up at a meeting. They are concerned, they know the right place to go, they want their voices heard and they went out and did it. Not sure how much satisfaction they got from it since the board president rightfully explained the board cannot talk about teachers or supervisors or personal problems publicly at meetings. However, it’s my belief this new board of education listens to everyone and takes their concerns seriously. They need to have some time and do things the right way.
Many people turn to VeniVidiScripto for many reasons. But primarily, it’s because they want something to be said, but are afraid to put their names to it.
When things get tough, and they feel there can be retaliation of some kind for having an unpopular decision or thought, folks turn to VeniVidiScripto to have their thoughts expressed….without the fear of something bad happening to them for it.
VeniVidiScripto‘s writer has a decades long reputation for being trustworthy and holding confidences when requested. It’s part of being a decent and fair journalist
That happened this week. Literally dozens of parents, employees and taxpayers contacted VeniVidi Scripto after the first Henry Hudson article appeared. Heck, within three hours of its late-night posting, more than 300 people had already read it. There were calls to say thanks, or congratulations for having the guts to write it; there were calls with further information, calls with other things callers would like to see investigated. There were calls of concern and hopes that something could be done about what some parents said is a decrease in the quality of education in the school district in recent years.
But what the calls expressed the most was fear. Fear of something happening to them if it were found out they were critical of something at Henry Hudson.
Was it fear of retaliation?
Fear of reprisal?
Or vengeance?
Or Retribution somehow?
Hard to say. But this is the United States of America. This is a country where we have men and women who stand up, take to the seas or the air, or on the ground to fight for the right of everyone to be able to express his opinion honestly, openly, and without fear of anything.
We have a Declaration of Independence that states our belief in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and a Constitution and Bill of Rights that uphold and protect those rights.
Yet in Highlands and Atlantic Highlands we have parents, teachers, school employees and taxpayers who are fearful of criticizing anything about their regional school district
The Board of Education is relatively new on the job; some of its members have never served on a board before; all have to follow reams of state regulations on how they’re supposed to act, what they can do, what they can’t do, and when they can do it.
But the fear of so many people to express an opinion is a problem that should squarely be put on their shoulders and should be investigated, researched, and resolved…quickly, efficiently, and thoroughly.
