Claremont
At Wednesday night’s School Board meeting, Principal Pat Barry told the board that those planning the event, which was announced in a Facebook post on a private Claremont-centric group page, did not consult with school officials.
While the intentions may be good, Barry said, the results may prove harmful.
“It is not coming from a students-centered place and I would urge adults to think about the students,” Barry said. “Seeing strangers and potential police and media presence, for many students, will not be a positive experience.”
Barry said she is “nervous” because “external forces have decided to make a statement about bullying outside the school without working with us” or considering the perspective of the students they are trying to help.
Superintendent Middleton McGoodwin went a step further at the meeting. He urged people not to demonstrate today but to instead join a subcommittee he announced he is forming with the board and staff to have a communitywide dialogue on issues of bullying and racism.
“This will provide parents more opportunity to see what we are doing,” McGoodwin said.
Board Chairman Brian Rapp and members Michelle Pierce and Rebecca Zullo volunteered to serve on the subcommittee.
In late August, an 8-year old biracial boy who had a rope around his neck allegedly was pushed off a picnic table by some teenagers near Barnes Park, off North Street. Since then, the city has been the focus of national news stories, and residents have held public vigils and other events while the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office, which has assumed control of the investigation, continues its probe.
In the private Facebook group What’s Up, Claremont?, resident Erica Rae Sweetser posted a statement about bullying, saying it was on the rise as of late and that there has been “a lot of passing the buck” with parents asking schools to do more to stop bullying.
“Schools have a responsibility to keep children safe when they are at school and it is the parent’s responsibility to keep them safe at home, what about in between? Isn’t it up to the community to model good behavior then?” Sweetser wrote in the post.
In her post, Sweetser said she wanted to set up a “chain of Claremont citizens” who can serve as a role model for students. She asked people to stand on Broad or Pleasant Street from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. today with “no bullying” signs and to let students sign them as a pledge against bullying, if they were willing.
At Wednesday night’s meeting, Lexi Grenier, the School Board’s student representative, said she shared Barry’s concerns about the effect such a demonstration could have on students, who will be leaving school around the time the demonstration is set to begin.
Grenier, a senior, said she is not pleased about the prospect of stepping outside the place she has called home for the last four years, a place where she said she feels comfortable and safe, and seeing adults demonstrating and holding signs.
“It is scary and it is frustrating because no one has asked us how we feel,” Grenier said.
According to School Board members, Sweetser was in the audience with two others on Wednesday night, but they did not speak during the public comment session and left before the board began discussing its policy on diversity to address racism.
Board member Patrick Adrian offered to speak for Sweetser in response to Barry’s statement. He said the group’s motives were being misrepresented, which was contributing to the anxiety surrounding the event, but he was shouted down by Vice Chairman Chris Irish before he could finish.
Irish said he would not let him speak on behalf of the group, which was given the opportunity to address the board but instead chose to leave the meeting.
“I don’t want to hear it,” Irish said.
He accused the organizers of trying to steal students’ identities through their own “ego and arrogance.”
“They don’t care about the students, they care about the issues they are trying to promote,” Irish said.
Adrian said Irish was judging the group’s agenda without knowing what it is.
Barry, the principal, reiterated that she was not judging the message or motive and thought it was coming from a “good place.” But she said the Stevens High staff works daily — and did so long before the Aug. 28 incident — to create an environment that promotes positive action including community service and kindness toward others.
“Bullying disappears in that environment. I feel this (demonstration) will rip the scab off the wound that is starting to heal,” Barry said.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
Clarification
This story has been updated to indicate that Erica Rae’s last name is Sweetser.
