Southington School Chief: Teacher Was Not Indoctrinating Students

SOUTHINGTON, CT — A Southington High School English teacher will not be disciplined for distributing a controversial worksheet that addressed multiple diversity issues to students on Sept. 1.

Southington Superintendent of Schools Steven Madancy, in an emotional speech before a large crowd at the Southington Board of Education meeting Thursday, said the embattled teacher was not trying to indoctrinate students to a certain set of political beliefs against school curriculum.

"It was clear during our comprehensive review that the teacher had no intent on slanting student perceptions and, instead, was trying to create a space for classroom discussions that would occur throughout the year," Madancy said.

As a result of this controversy, however, Madancy made three recommendations:

• All teachers in the district receive more professional development regarding the teaching of controversial issues.

• High school English and social studies classes collaborate even further regarding such issues.

• Teachers planning to address controversial topics consult with educational colleagues prior to beginning the lessons.

Terms mentioned in the worksheet included "white privilege," "indigenous peoples," "transgender" people, "institutional racism," gender pronouns, the "Latinx" term and other terms dividing liberals, who contend its about diversity, and conservatives, who call it 'woke' culture demonizing white people.

The worksheet, which was a writing style sheet, addressed those terms' definitions and proper ways students can include those terms in their writing.

The worksheet's genesis is from the University of Arizona and it's called “Vocabulary for Conversations about Race, Gender, Equality and Inclusivity.”

In addition to clearing the unidentified teacher of any wrongdoing, Madancy also weighed in on a controversy that has showed how national political fault lines have crossed through Southington.

At a school board meeting earlier this month, multiple right-leaning speakers blasted the teacher, alleging the teacher was trying to "indoctrinate" students with the teacher's own political beliefs.

The issue, first brought to light by a student who raised concerns to a counselor at the school, then erupted in local social media circles, expanded statewide via local television broadcast media and was, even, discussed in national conservative news outlets like Fox News and Newsmax.

Despite loud critics protesting the worksheet, Madancy said equally vocal were those in support of it.

"I have heard from parents and community members offering multiple perspectives on this situation," he said. "For every concern the district received regarding the use of this material, the district received an equal amount of correspondence expressing support for its use."

Given the political divide in the nation, Madancy said teaching today is a perilous endeavor.

"This is causing stress for all of us, especially our teachers and staff as our school is now in the national spotlight over a 10th-grade English document," Madancy said.

"I support this teacher, and all teachers in our classroom, who are, in today's world, facing the reality of having to teach what can be considered at times to be controversial subjects on contemporary issues in our classroom.

"This has been an unfortunate distraction for all of us and we will not debate in the media and social media," Madancy said to loud and lengthy applause.

Southington's school board is comprised of six Republicans and three Democrats, but comments of support for educators and denouncements of political divisions crossed all party lines.

Southington Board of Education Chairperson Colleen Clark, a Republican, admitted the teacher's materials were not "properly vetted" and said mistakes were made regarding how the topic was approached.

Reading aloud a statement at the meeting's start, she said the district could learn from this situation and move on.

But Clark also blasted the supercharged, politically divisive atmosphere in town since school started.

"I resent that a personnel matter regarding one of our teachers at one of our schools has been turned into a political platform by those who have non-educational agendas," Clark said.

"Our world is changing and we want to prepare our children for the world beyond Southington High School," Clark said. "As a board, we support our teachers and our staff."

Others on the board agreed.

"I have been upset to see our school system maligned on national news this week," Democrat Terri Carmony said. "We must allow our students to become informed and develop critical thinking skills and apply them to our society that we live in today. It is a very, very important skill that they need."

Republican Joseph Baczewski said the issue wasn't the content of the worksheet, it was the way it was presented.

"This issue is not in what is being taught, it is how it was introduced," Baczewski said, calling the situation a "mistake."

"I hope that we can all move on from this with a greater understanding of one another," he said.

Democrat Zaya G. Oshana Jr. said topics covered in the worksheet are topics that, regardless of political beliefs, should still be addressed.

"We all say we want free and open debate, but that can only happen when we open this up to the full spectrum of ideas, not just those that we agree with," Oshana said. "That's not the American way."

Following school board comments and school official comments, a parade of public speakers numbering 30 went to the podium and voiced similar concerns both for and against the worksheet.

To watch the full Sept. 22 Southington Board of Education meeting, click on this link.

From Sept. 20: 'SCSU Faculty Back Southington HS Teacher Behind Diversity Worksheet'