Stoughton Superintendent Stands By Disciplining Teachers Who Talked About Swastika Incidents

STOUGHTON, MA — Despite protests and objections from teachers, students, parents, and members of the community, Superintendent Marguerite Rizzi is standing by her decision to discipline three teachers for discussing two November incidents involving swastikas at Stoughton High School.

Rizzi told the school committee Tuesday night that Stoughton High School Principal Juliette Miller acted appropriately when responding to the incidents involving students making swastikas that the public was not made aware of until January.

“The use of the swastika in any circumstances is concerning, to say the lease and something that we would never overlook or downplay. On the contrary, when there are allegations of students or adults displaying bias or prejudice, we must intervene and that is what exactly what happened in this case,” Rizzi said. “I stand by these decisions while I cannot legally address the specifics, I can say the decisions were made in the interest of students we serve.”

Rizzi and the administration has faced criticism for not being transparent about the incidents when they first happened. In a letter released in January, Rizzi said the students involved were disciplined. Three teachers were also disciplined for speaking to students about the incidents, including one who was suspended for 20 days, to be served two days a week. She denied that a teacher was disciplined for rescinding a college letter of recommendation written for one of the students involved in the incidents.

Miller said a staff meeting was held on Dec. 1 to address the issue. She said she called the Anti-Defamation League Dec. 5, a day after the administration learned of the second incident and they will be working with the school.

“Even though few students had addressed the offensive actions of their peers appropriately, it was clear after reviewing the investigative reports that our student body lost sight of how hurtful these symbols and words can be to their peers and community at large,” Miller said.

John Mange, director of fine arts at Stoughton High School, was one of the few voices in support of the administration’s response.

“Some has suggested that the administration has tried to cover up and ignore the controversy. On the contrary, the administration addressed the issue in a measured, careful, and legally defensible manner,” Mange said. “In short, if your notion of the administrators is that they are somewhat complicit in perpetuating cultural intolerance at our school, you are mistaken.”

Andrea Pires and John Gunning of the Stoughton Teachers Association maintained that the school district did not act appropriately, giving examples of similar incidents in Sharon, Harvard, Cambridge, Milton, and Natick where school officials responded with a letter to parents within days and in some cases, thanked teachers for the support they gave students. Due to the administration's response, the teachers union requested at the Dec. 1 meeting that a statement to the community be made, the Anti-Defamation League be contacted and requested Miller to make an announcement on the school’s morning news program. Additionally, the STA requested that the school committee directs the superintendent to provide educational programs from a third party, hold Miller and Rizzi accountable and have them issued an apology, work with STA to create a district-wide protocol for hate speech and overturn all discipline aimed at staff who responded.

The school committee also received two petitions, one signed by 54 professional status teachers in Stoughton and a Massachusetts Teachers Association petition in support of the disciplined teachers signed by 2,158 people.

School committee Vice-Chairperson Molly Cochran accused the union of fanning the flames of a controversial issue.

“The union has decided to send a plea to the public concerning certain teacher discipline. They do so knowing full well that this matter will be inflammatory and they choose to release selective information the administration can’t respond to,” Cochran said. “ As far as I’m concerned, at the end of the day, the union’s petition is not about the well-being of the students.”

Those who spoke from the public largely criticized the school’s district's lack of communication with the public at the time of the incident

“You mentioned a lack of communication and I think this is the basis of this. I think the administration and school board have done a very poor job of communicating what happened to the community. There have been tremendous amounts of emails and postings where people know bits and pieces of what’s going on and the fact that there was no clear statement until the end of January I think caused that,” resident Richard Smith said.

School committee member Joaquin Soares, who has been a critic of Rizzi’s, told the superintendent that she was “engaged in fire control rather than putting out the fire when it was small.”

“I get the young person that doesn't understand the gravity of a government that killed jews during the second World War but you Dr. Rizzi, are not only expected to stop the injustice of a young adult but change the direction of a faulty idea so a young leader can understand the error of his or her way,” Soares said.

Teachers who were disciplined by Rizzi are going through the grievance process, STA officials said.

Image: File Photo