Park PTA Heads Speak Out at Board Meeting

The leaders of Park Middle School's PTA on Thursday continued to publicly express their concern regarding a letter they received from staff members at School One.

During the Board of Education meeting last night, former Park PTA President Maggie Savoca addressed the board to discuss what she felt were acts of intimidation on the part of the 42 teachers who signed the letter.

Savoca, along with Park PTA Vice President Lisa Germano, received a letter from teachers at School One on April 6 stating that the women "undermined the spirit of cooperation and unity between parents and teachers" when they spoke publicly about the budget issues at one of the recent Board of Education meetings.

On that same day, the SPFEA sent a letter to the PTA Council as a whole stating that those PTA leaders who spoke showed a "complete disregard" for the district's teachers.

Savoca resigned from her position as Park PTA president on Tuesday following a meeting with the SPFEA and Superintendent Margaret Hayes.

On Thursday night, she spoke about the events that have transpired in the past two weeks.

"The position I have been put in is not easy for me or others involved, but it is what I feel is right," Savoca said. "The action of the group who signed the letter is intimidation to me."

Savoca reiterated that she spoke out as a private citizen, not as a representative of the PTA. Germano echoed that Thursday, telling the board that they have been "ostracized" for speaking out as taxpayers.

"All I said was please look at all options," Germano said. "If taking a freeze for a year meant balancing the budget out and no one was laid off … why wouldn't you want to do that? Why would a colleague want to see another colleague get laid off?"

Savoca told the board she is concerned the entire issue will lead to her children being treated unfairly by those teachers at School One who signed the letter. She went on to say that other parents have been afraid to speak publicly about the budget and teacher contracts in fear it would influence how teachers treat their children in the classroom. An audible gasp followed from the more than 200 teachers who attended the board meeting Thursday night.

Board President Trip Whitehouse assured Savoca that the disagreements taking place amongst the adults would not affect the children's learning environment. He noted that his daughter actually has the SPFEA president, Dominick Giordano, as a teacher, and that no matter what disagreements may exist amongst adults, they have not impacted the classroom experience.

"Having read the words on all sides, if they had come to me I can understand how someone would feel concerned," Whitehouse said. "The best I can tell you is that as the BOE president, as far as my own child I've seen that although we can disagree … we're able to keep it on the adult level. I understand your concerns are real and I don't want to invalidate them. I've spoken with our superintendent as to what can be done to better educate our community — employees, parents, children and taxpayers — as to the right way to handle this from both sides."

Whitehouse said that Hayes has assured him that the district understands that every person who sends their child to the schools entrusts in them safety, learning and citizenship, and that that will continue regardless of anything that has happened now and going forward.

Savoca asked if any of the teachers would be reprimanded for the letter, but Hayes insisted it's inappropriate at any time to discuss disciplinary action in a public forum.

"What would you do if 42 students wrote a letter implying a teacher didn't have the right to free speech?" Savoca then asked.

"If the student misunderstands the constitution, then it's our job to inform them," Hayes replied. "Everyone in this country has the right to free speech. We would help reinforce and correct their understanding."

"Does anybody on the board find it alarming that 42 staff people were not aware of that?" Savoca asked.

"Yes," Whitehouse responded.

In a letter to Patch on Thursday, SPFEA President Giordano wrote that while the union did perceive the women's speaking out as a perceived lack of neutrality, he said the union was not interested in "pursuing a conflict of words with parents, citizens, taxpayers, or PTA leaders."

"We did not create the economic problem, nor do we engage in any actions of bullying or intimidation," Giordano wrote. "The Bully is the Governor whose draconian cuts to education stand to decimate our public schools, while he continues to resist continuing a tax surcharge on our wealthiest citizens."

While Savoca has stepped down from her leadership role within Park's PTA, Germano remains vice president. On Thursday she apologized for potentially dismaying anyone, but said she was not backing out of her PTA position and that she'd been trying to talk Savoca out of doing the same.

"Nobody has ever questioned how wonderful our teachers are in this district," Germano said. "When Maggy and I talked about what to do after receiving the letter, we were very upset, then we were very angry. Parents have said they're very upset and angry about what was done to us. … The one thing I've taught my child is that if you start something, you finish it ….  I've got one more term, and I'm not going anywhere."

Right before the meeting's conclusion, School One employee Kerri Villane approached the board with her own testimony. With tears in her eyes, Villane turned to Savoca and said that while she stands by her feelings in regards to the letter, "as a parent of a student at Park Middle School, I'd ask you to stay on."