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The Newtown Board of Education held its first meeting with public comment since the controversy over an educator's racist, hateful social media posts first erupted in September.
People upset about Danielle Slaughter Lozer's policy-breaking posts had to wait more than two hours before they were given an opportunity to speak, and then they were cautioned not to speak at all about the controversy.
The first speaker who attempted to address the matter was pretty much shut down.
T.G., a former US Marine, had been asked to read comments drafted by another parent who was online but who was prevented from speaking due to known technical issues on the BOE's side.
Plus, T.G. also had his own comments to deliver.
Each speaker is theoretically provided three minutes to deliver comments.
However, BOE Chair Alison Plante determined that T.G. would not be provided three minutes to read the other parent's comments and three minutes for his own comments -- instead he would get three minutes total for both comments.
On top of that, T.G. was restricted from making most of his comments because Plante said they "don't discuss personnel matters in public." It didn't matter to Plante that T.G. refrained from using Lozer's name. Plante just shut him down and told him to email the Superintendent instead.
T.G., along with the parent prevented from commenting due to the BOE's technical difficulties, had intended to bring up the fact that Lozer's social media posts appear to violate BOE Policy 4118, Freedom of Speech and Media, which requires employees to "refrain from discourse or social media use that:
The Superintendent even acknowledged this concern in a recent note to parents.
Additionally, T.G. and the other parent intended to bring up the controversial relationship between the school district and the racial justice activist group Newtown Allies for Change (NAFC). The group pressures educators to adopt discriminatory DEI positions, and promote hateful "anti-racism" concepts in the classroom.
The other parent was planning to mention the unusual and outsized influence that NAFC has held over the town, too, including the library and even the police.
As a matter of fact, Newtown Police Sgt. Chapman, who is so friendly with the NAFC that parents jokingly call him "the Allies Bodyguard," was present at the BOE meeting last night, presumably in case anything got rowdy.
T.G. intended to close his comments by pointing out the obvious ethics concerns related to Lozer's position as an NAFC board member and the fact that the NAFC — which is not registered as a nonprofit but has been taking donations for five years — gives symbolic and monetary awards of up to $500 to educators who adopt the NAFC's racist views.
"Due to this failure in leadership and action, I'll immediately begin the formal process of filing ethics violations against the Board of Education, the Superintendent and the employee," said T.G.
He attempted to say, "these violations will cite the harassment and assault of parents, financial conflicts of interest, and educator professional standards violations. And most importantly YOUR inaction towards these violations. If you will not hold OUR employees accountable, we will hold YOU accountable."
But he got reprimanded again by Plante who said they do not discuss complaints or personnel matters in public.
After the meeting ended, T.G attempted to ask Plante how a parent would address these serious issues with the entire BOE, and was told that personnel matters will not be discussed at this time.
By the way, the harassment that T.G. tried to reference in his comments included the fact that Lozer attempted to contact T.G. at his home, presumably to intimidate him.
Lozer's personal number and name appeared on T.G.'s caller ID on September 29th, but after he answered Lozer's call, she hung up. Then T.G. received another call back almost immediately, but from a private number. T.G. reported the harassing call to Uberti.
It remains unclear exactly how Lozer knew to contact T.G., but he's not the only parent who reported receiving a phone call like this.
The next speaker, Wendy Rosa Humphries, was obviously frustrated that she couldn't address "the elephant in the room" and begged the BOE and Superintendent to stop being political for the sake of the children.
"But it's getting ugly. Our children watch what we do. They know what we post. They know what we say. It shouldn't matter whether you're left or right, let's get these test scores up," said a passionate Humphries. "Let's stop being political, and start teaching these children what they deserve."
Cathleen Walsh, a former Newtown resident, also came to speak about the issue that they were not allowed to speak about.
Her children attended Newtown Public Schools and she used to work for the town, so her "roots and her heart are with Newtown" even though she has since moved. She still has many friends in town who are "very afraid" to speak out against the Allies.
Why the fear?
People who speak out are "called racists or intolerant, and sometimes it doesn't stop there. Their businesses get boycotted. Their kids get harassed, and they're attacked online. That's happening right here in Newtown," Walsh lamented. "And that's heartbreaking to see."
"People should never feel afraid to attend a meeting, or to share their opinions respectfully, and that's what a community is supposed to be like. And that's what's happening now. This room should be filled with people. People are afraid to come out and express their opinion. It's concerning when those representing our schools feel comfortable posting things that divide the community, while parents and residents feel too intimidated to even speak up," said Walsh.
She said that everyone should feel safe and respected in Newtown, but that is not what's happening under the reign of the NAFC.
Walsh came to the BOE to speak on behalf of parents who feared speaking up themselves, and when she asked the BOE to "please take care of" the Lozer situation, she was also told the BOE doesn't discuss personnel matters.
Parents are obviously frustrated at what feels like, from the outside, a total lack of action on the part of the Superintendent for what looks like a straight-forward violation of the BOE's policy, as well as the stranglehold the Allies seem to have over the schools and town.
Plus, considering the Superintendent has previously shared a post touting a racial justice activism lesson from the incredibly biased Southern Poverty Law Center's Learning for Justice division, there is concern that Uberti may be biased in favor of the Allies.
A petition demanding Lozer's immediate dismissal has netted over 500 signatures.
But so far, parents have no indication that any such action will be taken.
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Thank you for highlighting the highly concerning behavior of the Newtown Public School System.
Public board meetings have rules and it has been a long-standing policy for individuals who are present to have three minutes to speak AND that they are strictly prohibited from bringing up specific personnel issues. Additionally, The court of public opinion has decided that Mrs. Lozer has broken policies, but clearly the Newtown Board of Education disagrees. Overwhelmingly, this is not an issue in Newtown the way the article claims it to be.