Bregy Retweets Support For Single District 112 Middle School Campus

A tweet sent by a Northwood Junior High School teacher last week supporting a single Middle School campus was retweeted by North Shore School District 112 Superintendent Dr. Michael Bregy.

Bregy says the tweet from Carolyn Frye’s account, @MrsFryeFrye - “I stand with @NorthShoreSupt (Bregy) - I want 1 middle school campus #SeparateIsNotEqual - RT if you agree!,” was centered around :district unity and common purpose” before the District’s opening day staff rally, but some who live in the district are calling it divisive.

I stand with @NorthShoreSupt - I want 1 middle school campus #SeparateIsNotEqual - RT if you agree!

— Carolyn Frye (@MrsFryeFrye) August 24, 2015

The tweet was made in reference to the ongoing District issue of school reconfiguration. District officials are in the process of evaluating models for reconfiguration involving condensing the three middle school model to either one campus or two. Certain groups, namely the Citizens Actively Rethinking Education (CARE), have made their opposition to what they call the “big box” middle school campus plan at the site of Sherwood and Red Oak known.

“There are so many unanswered questions about this entire process, and this retweet is symptomatic of larger issues,” said Davis Schneiderman, who is affiliated with CARE. “CARE is frequently contacted by those who want to know if a 2000-student mega school is really a foregone conclusion.”

District resident Loren Schechter says an “open and honest debate” is what needs to happen, and this tweet is one way the District has tried to shut that down.

“It sends a bad message to shut down debate and is offensive to those of us who have legitimate concerns on the (one-school) plan,” Schechter said.

Among those concerns are that some students will have to be bussed to and from school for 45 minutes a day and the difficulties that would be present for parents living in those areas to make it to PTA meetings and other events.

But Bregy wasn’t shy about following up on his retweet with support for the one middle school plan.

“At several public board meetings, the District’s leadership team has been very open and forthcoming about the educational benefits of the middle school campus model,” he wrote in a statement on Tuesday. “For myriad reasons, leading with excellent education, the middle school campus has tremendous potential.”

He said he was “encouraged” to receive the tweet directly from Frye because “it signified that people like Carolyn are gaining awareness.”

Bregy wasn’t the only top District administrator to either “retweet” or “favorite” the item from Frye, who teaches sixth grade math at Northwood. Assistant Superintendents Jennifer Ferrari and Dr. Monica Schroeder were among the others.

That doesn’t sit well with Schneiderman, Schechter or Jeff Hamburg, who, along with Schechter, called into question the use of the hashtag, #SeperateIsNotEqual, in Frye’s tweet, saying that implies there is currently a racial or civil rights struggle that simply doesn’t exist.

“I strongly object to conflating the civil rights struggle with pursuit of a big box middle school referendum,” said Hamburg, who came across the tweet while searching for results of #SeperateIsNotEqual. “Likening the two is an offensive misuse and misappropriation of a profound struggle. And it is a logical flight to suggest that two smaller, human-scale middle schools would somehow violate the Constitution (we have three now), or to imply that neighborhood schools are segregationist tools.

“By invoking a great victory for human rights, it seems Bregy wants to cast his opponents on the ash heap of history. His cavalier tweet was misleading, self-serving, and cynical. It is relevant only as it highlights these facts.”

If anything, Schechter said, a “big box plan” is disenfranchising the kids who will have to ride the bus 45 minutes a day to get to school.

Schechter is also disappointed with the process the district has followed in acquiring public input on the matter, convinced that the decision has already been made.

“Are they even looking at other options?,” he asked, sharing his belief that the public relations firm hired by the District for $12,000 a month to educate the community on the issue is “a sales pitch” and that a joint meeting with the Park District to discuss Olson Park as a possible middle school option was “a waste of time and effort” since park officials quashed the idea within minutes.

“There are a whole host of other options, but there is a floating rubric and ever-changing reasoning not to explore anything else,” Schechter said, adding that the Bregy’s retweet was “wholly inappropriate.”

District resident Adam Kornblatt agrees with Schneiderman, Schechter and Hamburg saying the action troubles him in two ways.

“There are rules that bar the expenditure of public funds to advocate votes for or against a referendum. This includes using school district resources for brochures, web postings, and other communications urging a yes or no vote. Additionally, it is my understanding that state employees and officials are generally not permitted to engage in certain political activities (which includes campaigning for against any referendum questions) during school employment hours, which for administrators would essentially be full time, and should at least express that he or she is not speaking in their capacity as an administrator,” he said, adding that “the use of the @Northshoresupt twitter tag, in my opinion, certainly coveys to the readers that he is speaking in his administrator capacity.”

The ‘Separate but not equal’ phrase has “historically been used in this country to identify racial, gender, religious, and sexual orientation inequality that impacts a group of people that has historically been persecuted,” according to Kornblatt. “Using this reference to support a building configuration that is being sought strictly for financial purposes provides an insinuation that those opposing the district’s plans in some way are trying to segregate or disadvantage a group of people.”

He said in reality, those who oppose the reconfiguration do so in support of smaller local neighborhood schools, to defeat a big box middle school which they believe is wrong from an educational, community values and financial perspective.

It isn’t uncommon for Bregy to retweet something by Frye, or any other District 112 teacher active on Twitter.

“Our staff uses this tool for a variety of reasons including to broaden our professional learning network, share ideas, and connect with our colleagues,” Bregy said. “It is very common that district team members ‘favorite’ and ‘retweet’ one another’s thoughts and ideas. Carolyn’s tweet was one among many to be passed on through the Twittersphere.”

This tweet, however, has garnered much more attention.

“The District says it is open to other plans, but this tweet suggests that is not the case,” said Schneiderman.