Stoughton Superintendent Calls Allegations In Letter From Brandeis Center 'Unfair And Untrue'

STOUGHTON, MA — The superintendent of the Stoughton Public Schools has taken exception to a letter from the Brandeis Center For Human Rights Under Law that backed a teacher reprimanded for discussing an incident involving swastikas at Stoughton High School.

In a letter to Senior Civil Rights Fellow Jennifer Gross and Director of Legal Initiatives Aviva Vogelstein, Superintendent Marguerite Rizzi wrote that she was disappointed that the Brandeis Center did not contact the Stoughton Public Schools prior to submitting a letter in support of Stella Martin.

"I am surprised, because I did not take the Brandeis Center as an institution that only seeks half of a story before drawing conclusions that may have serious consequences for many people," Rizzi wrote.

Prior to Tuesday's school committee meeting, the Brandeis Center made public a letter sent to the committee and Rizzi in support of Martin. Following three incidents November and December 2016 involving students drawing swastikas, Martin held a discussion in her honors English class about anti-Semitic symbolism, the Holocaust, and hate speech. During the discussion, students mentioned the name of one of the students suspended for the first incident.

Following the discussion, the mother of the child who drew the symbol filed a complaint accusing Martin of bullying his son. Martin says she does not know the student, have never met him, and never said anything about him to her students.

A letter of reprimand was placed in Martin's file for failing to perform the roles and responsibilities of a teacher as defined in the Stoughton High School handbook and therefore didn't provide an educational climate conducive to student engagement and learning.

“It is disgraceful that the Stoughton Public Schools are disciplining a teacher who did the right thing by responding firmly to anti-Semitism,” Brandeis Center President Kenneth L. Marcus said in a release. “Ms. Martin did what teachers should do, responding promptly and firmly. Superintendent Rizzi should be honoring Stella Martin, rather than punishing her. By mistreating Ms. Martin and her colleagues in this manner, Superintendent Rizzi is sending an awful message that the Stoughton Public Schools will tolerate anti-Semitism but punish teachers who speak out against it.”

Rizzi, however, said the group drew conclusions that were inaccurate and stated that the letter from the Brandeis Center was unfair and untrue. She did renounce hate and anti-Semitism but did not comment on the allegations and Martin's case due to an ongoing arbitration process.

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