Greenwich Teachers Rally, Tell Board Of Ed. They Feel Harassed

GREENWICH, CT — About 100 Greenwich teachers held a rally and marched to Central Middle School from Greenwich High School ahead of Thursday night's Board of Education special meeting.

Teachers held signs that read "Stop Attacking Teachers", "Stop Harassing Teachers" and "We Support Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion".

According to Greenwich Education Association President Lil Perrone, teachers have received threatening emails and messages on social media in recent weeks from a "small but loud group of individuals" who are criticizing district curriculum.

The GEA is a labor union that represents teachers.

Some in the community feel teachers are teaching Critical Race Theory to students. In June, Superintendent of Greenwich Public Schools Dr. Toni Jones denied that claim.

"Critical Race Theory is not part of the GPS curriculum. We do, however, want our students to be critical thinkers, listeners, and analyze the past, present, and future in regards to how we see and respect one another, which is a core component of our District’s mission to prepare students to function effectively in an interdependent global community," Jones said in a letter to parents in June.

Perrone spoke at Thursday's meeting during the public hearing portion, and asked the Board of Education for help to combat the hate she said teachers are receiving.

"We as teachers need your help, because I really don't understand how we arrived at this place in time. Last year, we were thanking teachers for our heroic efforts and hard work," Perrone said. She said there was a recent incident in which a teacher was followed to "private sites and visits" and harassed.

"Some teachers have received threatening emails, even called criminals or even worse. How can we allow this to continue?" Perrone asked. "Aren't we all entitled to a safe workplace? Free from harassment and intimidation? We cannot allow our friends and colleagues to be harrassed, bullied and threatened. This must stop now."

Roger Rosenthal, a Greenwich resident, spoke during the public hearing and described himself as a "patriot." In his youth, Rosenthal said he was somewhat of an activist, mainly leaning left.

"Tonight however, I represent no political movement," he said. "'Im here as a patriot. What does that mean? A patriot loves America, and as such, opposes children being taught to hate America. A patriot accepts the history, full-floss. Slavery was abominable, and so was genocide. We're not perfect, but we've come a long way. A patriot also loves freedom, including the freedom to make one's own choices for better or for worse... I'm a patriot. I'm not fringe. I believe my thoughts reflect the mainstream of America."

State Rep. Kimberly Fiorello (R-149) who represents a portion of Greenwich and Stamford, serves on the Education Committee in Hartford. She spoke at Thursday's meeting and told parents and the Board to be "vigilant" against what is being taught in schools.

"The vigilance of parents to understand the bills that are being passed is vital, whether it's an act concerning social and emotional learning, inclusion of computer science or financial literacy as part of graduation requirements, which may be good or bad," Fiorello said. "As a resident of this town I strongly urge our Board to put education first and to resist the urge to go toward agendas that move away from core classical education competencies for K-12. There is a great push for that coming from Hartford."

The public hearing steered towards masking and vaccinations.

The Greenwich Patriots group has been outspoken against mandates, and the curriculum in school over the past few months.

Jackie Homan, the founder of Greenwich Patriots, said her son has a mask exemption due to a medical condition, but wears one anyway.

"He absolutely should not be wearing a mask but he wears it because you've created such a toxic, hostile environment in the school that he'd rather sacrifice his health than get chased down the hallway and hauled into another disciplinary meeting with your Brownshirts," Homan said, referring to the Nazi party's paramilitary wing that helped bring Adolf Hitler to power in the 1920s and 1930s.

"You've usurped my parental rights, and you are now personally responsible for indoctrinating my son into your delusional anti-science views on masks," Homan said.

On vaccinations, Homan called them "experimental gene therapy" and accused the Board of Education of being "a surrogate sales representative for Pfizer."

Carl Higbie, a Greenwich Representative Town Meeting member and former Navy SEAL, also objected to masks being worn in schools.

"This is garbage," he told the Board. "It's time to get over this stuff. I really think that education is not in your foremost mind. It's control."

The mask mandate was issued by Gov. Ned Lamont through an Executive Order.

Higbie held up signs with Board of Education Chair Peter Bernstein's and Jones' cellphone numbers written on them, and he told attendees to call them until they speak up about the mask mandate.

He also held up a sign with his own cellphone number written on it for the group of rallying teachers who came to watch the meeting.

"If someone threatens a teacher, you call me," Higbie said. "I'll be the first person to defend you."

Prior to the meeting, according to the Greenwich Time, Jones and Bernstein offered support for the teachers. To read their comments, click here.