Residents Split: Dueling Rallies Held Prior To Greenwich Board Of Ed. Meeting

GREENWICH, CT — The public had the chance to come face-to-face with the Greenwich Board of Education on Thursday night for the first time since the viral video of a Cos Cob School assistant principal making disparaging remarks was posted online late last month.

About 45 minutes before the board's regularly scheduled meeting was set to begin at Central Middle School, dueling rallies took place outside.

On one side were residents with signs that read "Academics Not Activism," and "Keep Politics Out Of The Classroom." One sign referred to an inappropriate video that was shown to 2nd graders in March 2021.

On the other side were residents who rallied in support of the Greenwich Public Schools district and the administration, notably Superintendent Dr. Toni Jones.

They held signs with messages such as "Let The Teachers Do Their Jobs," and "We Stand With Toni."

Several Greenwich police officers were on hand to keep order between the two groups. Some residents traded barbs from a distance over the current situation the school district finds itself in.

On Aug. 30, a secretly recorded video from Project Veritas was posted online that depicts Jeremy Boland, a Cos Cob School assistant principal, making what appears to be disparaging remarks about Catholics, his own personal hiring practices in the workplace and his preference for progressive and younger teachers.

Boland was placed on administrative leave, and investigations were initiated by the Greenwich Board of Education, town of Greenwich and even the Connecticut Attorney General's Office.

Public Comment

Not surprisingly, talk of the video and the state of the school district dominated the one-hour public comment session on Thursday night.

In recent days, 67 Greenwich Republicans signed a letter calling for Jones and Deputy Superintendent Ann Carabillo to be placed on leave until an independent investigation into Boland is completed.

Resident Jackie Homan demanded accountability from the board and administration.

"I've been coming to these meetings for the last year-and-a-half asking you to stop using profanity-laced, sexually explicit, and devisive racial content inside our schools. I've asked you to stop teaching unapproved curriculum, and therefore illegal curriculum," she said, noting that her allegations of illegal curriculum have been backed up by Freedom of Information Act requests, and now the viral Project Veritas video.

"Parents are here tonight because we love our teachers and we want to support our schools. We want to stay focused on excellent academics. We want politics-free schools. We want a high quality education for our children, not indoctrination," she said. "If this was corporate America, the leadership would be held accountable, especially since this culture appears to be pervasive and driven from the top down."

Former board of education member and current candidate for state Representative Peter Sherr said "the school system is in a state of crisis."

"[Boland] made clear that his purpose was, and the purpose of hiring teachers in this way, would be that so they could subtly send messages of a political nature to cultivate students to have a particular political point of view when they leave the Greenwich school system. That's an incredibly troubling development," Sherr said.

Sherr also noted he believes there were indicators of unapproved curriculum being taught when he was a board member.

"You must protect the school system, you must separate yourselves from the employees, and you must conduct a comprehensive investigation so that the system can be brought back into balance and compliance with your existing policies," Sherr told the board.

Republican Town Committee Secretary Gail Lauridsen also demanded action.

"We need to see that enforceable action is taken to require our teachers to teach fundamentals. They are not paid to fill our children's heads with personal ideology. The content of our school's curriculum must be carefully scrutinized. All controversial, racist, sexualized and frivolous content must be replaced with academics," she said.

Resident Carl Higbie said the group that rallied outside against the school district is not a fringe group or made up of domestic terrorists.

"We're parents. We want appropriate education [like] reading, writing, arithmetic," he said. "Teachers, we want them free from discrimination."

Higbie told the board everyone on both sides of the issue supports teachers.

"We don't support the administration. You no longer get the benefit of the doubt. You now have to prove to us that you're doing right by our kids," he said.

Others spoke in support of the board and administration.

Citing a recent school climate survey done by the district, Janet McMahon said that almost 60 percent of students in grades 3-12 feel that school is interesting, useful and important — an increase from 55 percent a year ago.

Similarly, she said, 84 percent of parents felt they were welcomed partners in their child's learning.

"These are incredible metrics that the GPS administration and staff should be proud of, and the GPS community should be celebrating. Instead, there was an ugly partisan rally outside attended by a vocal few who continue to terrorize our teachers, politicize our schools, polarize parents and derail our school board meetings," she said.

McMahon said she's been happy with the education who children are getting.

"I consider myself an active participant in my children's education. Never once have I suspected or experienced any indoctrination by any teacher or administrator," she said. "Neither have I encountered anything remotely close to [Critical Race Theory] or any of the political propaganda these same protestors allege at every single board meeting."

Another resident, Kathleen Brady, said Jones "operates with integrity, grace and a can-do attitude." She pointed to the stability Jones has brought to a district that once saw 13 superintendents at the helm in a little over 20 years.

"Now is the time to show support for the whole of the student body, for Dr. Jones and Dr. Carabillo as well, to operate in the best interest of all, not just the noisiest," she said.

Dan Quigley, former chair of the Republican Town Committee, said that while he's had disagreements with Jones in the past, she reopened schools quickly and returned to in-person learning during the pandemic.

He called Boland's comments "repugnant" and "not something our school system stands for."

"There is no reason to consider punishing anyone until an investigation is done," Quigley added. "Dr. Jones, I think you've done a good job. Continue doing it. Continue pushing forward. Board of Education members, do what you were elected to do. Get our kids educated well, keep them safe and keep them in good hands."

An Update On The Investigations

Later on in the meeting, Jones provided updates on the status of the investigations that are taking place. Cos Cob School families were also given an update from Jones recently.

Jones said the district is currently going through their internal investigation process, which is being handled by the Human Resources Department and Dr. Jonathan Budd.

Additionally, the town is close to choosing its outside counsel for their investigation.

Jones said she recently sat down for a several hour, in-person meeting with the state's Attorney General's Office who said they're beginning their inquiry.

Jones said she expects to receive a subpoena soon from the AG's Office, telling the district which documents they want preserved and handed over.

Lastly, Jones said she has appointed Karen Vitti as acting assistant principal at Cos Cob School.