Under Pressure at Hudson High

Metrowest Daily News ^ | 2/11/05 | Carolyn Kessel-Stewart

[stevebowl]

"If I changed school policy every time a letter came in asking me to change school policy, we would be making curriculum and policy based on every letter that came in."

[stevebowl]

Now I get it

[Mike Fieschko]

Wave the flag, for Hudson High, boys,
Show them how we stand.
Ever shall our team be champions
Known through-out the land!

[TigersEye]

Gee, I thought this was all made up. /s
I received this e-mail this morning saying so:

Thank you for your email. I am sorry to inform you that you have been seriously misinformed. The school administration supports the development of political clubs and has supported the Conservative Club. We know of no harassment that has taken place based on a student's political view.
Sheldon H. Berman
Superintendent of Schools
"Sheldon Berman" - sberman@hudson.k12.ma.us

[rocksblues]

I love how they start the story.

A legal team known for supporting right wing causes

No bias here!

[stevebowl]

From Grasstops.com

Mr. Berman seemed upset that Chris should think he is not getting a fair shake and implied to me that Chris is actually receiving special treatment saying:

"He (Chris) has had the most explicit propagandistic posters that we have allowed him to post... they purport an ideology (stammers)... they purport his viewpoints. No other student has done that."

I asked Berman if he considered the allowance of a "Blue Day" (Gay Day) at the school to be "propagandistic?"

Berman's answer, "No.. No.. any student who did not want to participate did not have to participate."

In other words -- in Berman's opinion -- conservative ideas are propaganda and the promotion of homosexuality to high school students is instructive and educational.

[David75]

"I wish they had chose a better Web site," he said.

And this guy is the principal...

Publik scul ejificashun wurkd four mi.

[TigersEye]

This is what RightMarch.com had told me about the situation:

The school's Assistant Principal advised Chris that the flyers were taken down because they gave the web address of the HSCCA's website which contained certain objectionable materials, including:

A statement on HSCCA's website, saying to "take down the rainbow flag, put up the American Flag and learn the Pledge of Allegiance."
Statements on the HSCCA's website calling for the support of LEGAL aliens and the deportation of ILLEGAL aliens.
A statement on the HSCCA's website calling for the abolition of federal funding to the National Education Association (NEA).
Hyperlinks on the HSCCA's website to the beheading videos of Americans by Islamic terrorists.
A statement on the HSCCA's website supporting the 2nd Amendment.

Now that you know what Hudson High School finds to be objectionable, it may interest you to hear from Chris what Hudson High School does NOT find objectionable:

Hudson High School recently sponsored a "Blue Day" at the school which is a celebration and affirmation of the homosexual lifestyle.
Hudson High School did not object to teachers distributing copies of the film Fahrenheit 911 to students to take home. It should be noted that Fahrenheit 911 contains scenes depicting mutilated bodies in Iraq and numerous uses of the F-word -- so much for objecting to the links of beheadings on the HSCCA website.
Hudson High School did not object when a teacher brought an effigy doll of President Bush to school last year with simulated flames shooting out of it and solicited the class to go to an anti-war rally in Boston and watch people drag a larger, life-size one through the streets.
Hudson High School does not object to teachers openly advocating abortion in the classroom.

Oh... we should also mention that Hudson High School is an affiliate school of The First Amendment Center, a national initiative designed to transform how to teach and practice the rights and responsibilities of citizenship that frame civic life in our democracy.
According to The First Amendment Center website (firstamendmentschools.org), this nationwide project has four primary goals:

Create consensus guidelines and guiding principles for all schools interested in creating and sustaining First Amendment principles in their school.
Establish project schools, in every region of the nation, where First Amendment principles are understood and applied throughout the school community.
Encourage and develop curriculum reforms that reinvigorate and deepen teaching about the First Amendment across the curriculum.
Educate school leaders, teachers, school board members and attorneys, and other key stakeholders about the meaning and significance of First Amendment principles and ideals.
If things are this bad in a First Amendment School, just imagine what things are like in other high schools across the nation!

This is from the article linked at the opening of this thread:

The Web site would not cause a disturbance in the school, McReynolds argued in his letter to Stapelfeld. That is the litmus test for limiting freedom of speech in schools, according to the 1969 lawsuit Tinker vs. Des Moines Independent School District.

But since then, the U.S. Supreme Court has limited student speech further. A 1986 case initiated the "Fraser standard" that stops students from making lewd speech. Then, the even more restrictive 1988 Hazelwood case allowed school officials to censor any speech that might "associate the school with any position other than neutrality on matters of political controversy."

McReynolds questioned how Stapelfeld could allow the student newspaper to cite the Web site, and allow a teacher to promote "Fahrenheit 9/11," but not allow reference to www.hscca.org.

It seems like they allow a lot more than "Fahrenheit 911" that is politically controversial ... unless it's conservative.

[Mathews]

I received the exact reply from the Super.

[TigersEye]

I asked Berman if he considered the allowance of a "Blue Day" (Gay Day) at the school to be "propagandistic?"
Berman's answer, "No.. No.. any student who did not want to participate did not have to participate."

And Chris Bowler's propagandistic posters forced other students to participate? How?

[TigersEye]

If you want to send an e-mail through RightMarch.com click below.

http://www.rightmarch.com/020805a.htm

Also:

"NOTE: You can also CALL Principal Stapelfeld at 978-567-6250, and Superintendent Berman at 978-567-6100 ext. 114. This young man's future and the future of his schoolmates -- who may not otherwise hear a conservative thought or idea in school -- are worth at least a couple of minutes of our time. If we all band together, we can make a difference.

BE WARNED -- you will likely get a canned automatic response from Mr. Berman, telling you you've been "seriously misinformed." DON'T BE FOOLED -- they may CLAIM they support the development of political clubs, including this one, but they WON'T ANSWER any of the questions raised in this Alert regarding the liberal indoctrination going on at Hudson High School."

[stevebowl]

It seems like they allow a lot more than "Fahrenheit 911" that is politically controversial ... unless it's conservative.

Like the website they published in a letter to the school newspaper that features a photo of two guys making out?

But what's more puzzling is that the school paper also published the website address that the conservative club is forbidden to use. So the school can publish it but the Club that's part of it can't? Very tricky.

[Smartaleck]

School district goals...

1. Implementing inquiry-based strategies for teaching social studies that emphasize civic
understandings, skills, and values and develops in students a critical understanding of the social
and political world around them.

9. Integrating technology into the curriculum to enhance curriculum goals, advance student learning,
and strengthen communication with parents.

District - http://hudson.k12.ma.us/
Hudson High - http://hudson.k12.ma.us/schools_district/hhs/index.htm

We Expect Students to be Able to...
Formulate and express ideas
Learn from a wide variety of written, audio, visual, and interpersonal sources
Stay current with modern technology while maintaining basic skills
Promote an awareness and appreciation of cultural diversity (Beheadings is a learning of cultural diversity isn't it?)

Neither the District nor the HS has any school policies listed other than dress code. Guess they make it up as they go along....or you have to have the secret handshake?

[Ender Wiggin]

I just clicked on the Hudson High website, clicked up Curriculum, then High School, and got a 404.

Server overload, or did they take it down?

Time to hit the wayback machine...

[stevebowl]

Actually, they call what they do clustering. When I was younger we called it a clusterphuk. They seem to be scrambling a bit. There was a meeting today with the Super and the kids in the club where he tried to explain that even though the school has no written policy on poster censoring, and even though only the club was singled out for censorship, "that website is worse than anything else I've ever seen." One of the kids listed 4 movies and videos that have been shown in the classroom starting in 9th grade that rival anything the website shows but like most liberals, facts do not deter this guy. Then he read one of the club's handouts aloud and substituted "conservative" for "liberal" where the article called liberals traitors and asked how the conservatives would feel. Of course if you do that it's not true anymore but that's beside the point.

[hudson03]

I went to Hudson High School. I am a conservative myself. I know most of the students involved in this very well, and I know all of the teachers and administration handling this matter. This is being blown way out of proportion. I wish that people would dig deeper to find out the real truth of the matter before they get so up in arms about it and jump to conclusions. Yes, I remember being frustrated with the amount of liberal sentiment in the school and in classes, but that is easily dealt with. The students there are free-thinkers who are able, and encouraged, to make their own decisions. I was quite able to make my opinions clear without the fear of persecution.
I am ashamed that people would make such personal remarks about a school and administration and staff that they know nothing about save what they read on the internet. Most of what is posted is untrue. Very untrue. I have teachers from the school system in my family, and I have siblings that still attend the school who keep me informed of everything that is going on. Believe me, they have no bias, except in the conservatives' favor. I just wish people would take the time to find out what the truth is.
And contacting the school? That is just getting ridiculous. You are taking away from the learning of hundreds of students, and disrupting the school system in a small, good town that likes to keep to itself. So you would sacrifice these students' educations by emailing and calling the school and various people connected to it? That is not going to help your cause. Think about what this is doing to the students and the teachers and the schools that have to live with this every day.
Once again I will state that I am a conservative and I agree with the club. The school's firewall is very strict to begin with, and so understandably this is why the website was blocked. The students were allowed to reprint posters without the website on them. Fair? I think so. They were not forbidden from meeting.
And I hate the implication that the librarian has no backbone against her fellow workers. If you met her, you would see that this is indeed not true in the least. And the principal? If I had to guess, I would wager that he is himself pretty conservative. This will be solved by the school in a fair manner. Things like this always have been.
Please stop the harrassment of the school. You're taking away from the education of hundreds of students, and the sanity of many staff. Think about what you're doing, and stop blowing this way out of proportion. Go back to your own lives and leave us to ours.

[InTheHud18]

Thank You! - A current HHS Student