To the Editor:
Below is a copy of a letter sent to the Mamaroneck Board of Education on Wednesday.
Last night you accused hundreds of community members of being “bullies” for exercising their first amendment right to fight for the safety of their children, a point which you have to date refused to acknowledge. Yet, you are the ones who have fought stubbornly for the last two years to throw vulnerable children off of school buses. From our side of the room, that looks a lot like bullying. Maybe bullying is in the eye of the beholder?
Further, last night, as at all prior Board meetings where transportation was discussed, you limited public participation to 2 minutes even though your own operating procedures require 3 minutes (Section II:C: “Should there be a number of individuals wanting to speak, the Board president may limit each speaker to three (3) minutes per turn so that all may be heard”). You cut public opportunity to comment short, yet you still found the time to chastise the community for “bullying” you. That is a completely inappropriate use of Board time.
And after accusing Coalition members of “bullying” you, you did not provide any opportunity for the public to respond to these accusations. What would you call that? Sounds like bullying to me.
Svetlana Wasserman
This discussion has become ridiculous. I have some natural sympathies for the parents of independent school children, but this overblown argument about “endangering” children and the direct mailer I received encouraging people to contact (which I read as harass) board members at their home telephone numbers is simply too much. If independent school parents can’t inject some reason and civility into this debate, they risk losing whatever community support they have.
calling people bullies when exercising their rights is a tactic to deflect from the issue at hand . if they cannot take the comments of concerned taxpayers with legitimate complaints they should consider resigning form the board.
and can I would like to add to that — what does it mean that “safety is in the eye of the beholder?” This statement could not be more false. How can safety be in the eye of the beholder? Something is either safe or its not. For example, asking children to take the Bee Line bus unsupervised to the new rochelle bus depot in the dark and switch buses to their final destination is not safe. Asking children to walk on narrow, busy streets without side walks is not safe. Asking children to cross 5 lanes of traffic without a crossing guard is not safe. Beauty may be “in the eye of the beholder” but safety surely is not.