Some people displayed signs at the SAU 16 Joint Board meeting Monday night to protest school officials’ decision to write numbers on the hands of unvaccinated students at Exeter High School’s recent prom.
PHOTOS BY Jason Schreiber/Union Leader Correspondent
Some people displayed signs at the SAU 16 Joint Board meeting Monday night to protest school officials’ decision to write numbers on the hands of unvaccinated students at Exeter High School’s recent prom.
PHOTOS BY Jason Schreiber/Union Leader Correspondent
A school board meeting turned into an anti-administration rally Monday night in Exeter, with calls for the superintendent to resign over the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the controversial decision to write numbers on the hands of unvaccinated students to track them at Exeter High School’s prom.
More than 150 people filled the high school’s cafeteria for what was supposed to be a routine meeting of School Administrative Unit 16’s joint board, which has members from the six towns in the SAU.
After a year of remote learning, masked children and meetings on Zoom, frustrated parents showed up for the in-person meeting to air a long list of grievances. Most were related to the pandemic, but some also complained about other hot-button educational topics, including the controversy surrounding the critical race theory movement.
Joint board chairman Travis Thompson told the crowd that many of their complaints need to be taken up with local school boards in towns within the SAU, because the joint board doesn’t have jurisdiction, but it seemed many simply wanted a public platform to voice their concerns.
When a majority of the board refused to move the public comment portion of the meeting higher up on the agenda to allow those in attendance to speak sooner, chants of “Let us speak” broke out.
With a police officer standing by, the board soon scrapped the rest of its agenda and allowed public comment to begin.
SAU 16 Superintendent David Ryan listens as parents and others criticized his handling of pandemic-related school issues at a meeting Monday night.
Jason Schreiber/Union Leader Correspondent
Superintendent David Ryan, who was the target of much of the criticism, sat quietly amid the shouting, finger pointing and tears.
Following the three-hour meeting, which included numerous calls for his resignation, he issued a written statement.
“Our parents and community members were very clear tonight sharing the issues and questions they want to see addressed and/or answered. We are very grateful to have had the opportunity to hear from them, firsthand, and we will certainly take their input and feedback to heart. We will respond to questions via our website in the coming days using our FAQ process and hope to post those in the coming days,” he said in the emailed statement.
Prom decision flashpoint
Donna Greulich of Exeter accused the schools of striking fear in children over COVID-19. She said she felt as if a “huge spear (was) going through my brain” after hearing about the hand markings at the prom.
“It took me right back to that movie ‘Carrie.’ Remember the movie ‘Carrie,’ when she’s at the prom and they poured that big vat of blood all over her? That’s what you did to those kids. You ostracized them. You made an example of them to feel weird, that there’s something wrong with them,” she said.
The school administration has defended writing the numbers in marker on the arms of unvaccinated students at the recent prom as part of its contact-tracing procedure.
Brentwood mother Tara Hafey’s daughter, who just graduated from Exeter, attended the prom, and while she had a good time, Hafey said she was “horrified” when she learned about the marking.
She commended one of the prom organizers who had worked hard to put it on, but she blamed Ryan for creating a culture in the district that “made people feel that it was appropriate to put a number on our kids that signifies their medical information and to have them hold their hands up for their underclassmen to track. It was wrong,” she said.
Janan Archibald, a parent from Kensington whose daughter just graduated from Exeter, talked about local, statewide and national publicity over the prom decision and the negative comments about the high school.
“They’re getting shamed over and over and over again every day,” she said, adding that her daughter wants to celebrate her accomplishments and not face harassment online.
The prom issue was expected to come up again at Tuesday night’s meeting of the Exeter Region Cooperative School Board, which oversees the high school.
Meanwhile, others complained about the continued mask mandates as the schools prepare to wrap up the school year.
“Make it optional!” someone shouted while another yelled “You’ve got the diaper on your face” to a few board members who chose to wear masks while the rest of the board and audience weren’t masked.
Anne Griffin demanded the board vote to eliminate masks, but Thompson, the board chairman, told her that the Joint Board didn’t have such authority and that it was up to each local school board within the district to decide.
Exeter High School sophomore Campbell Sanderson shared quotes gathered from students about the impact of the school mask mandates.
“At the beginning of last year I didn’t mind the mask because we did not know what was happening with COVID. Now, it’s just not necessary and having to wear it during the week of 90-plus degree weather and outside was torture,” he said, quoting a 15-year-old student.
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