For whatever its worth - a reply
10/8/04
Thank you for your comments. I am attaching a statement from the District that was released to the press Sunday, October 3, 2004 with the facts surrounding the incident. Hopefully these facts will help clarify the situation.
Again, thank you for your comments and concerns.
Robert F. Long
President, Board of Education
SOUTH BRUNSWICK TOWNSHIP PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Joanne Kerekes Gary P. McCartney, Ed. D. Jeffrey R. Scott, RSBA
Assistant Superintendent for Superintendent of Schools Assistant Superintendent for
Curriculum & Instruction Business/Board Secretary
P.O. Box 181 • 4 Executive Drive • Monmouth Junction, New Jersey 08852 • (732) 297-7800 • FAX (732) 422-8054
www.sbschools.org
"Expect the Best…And Get It!"
October 3, 2004
District Statement Regarding Bulletin Board at Crossroads Middle School
In an incident that has recently been reported to several media sources, a claim has
been made by South Brunswick Middle School teacher Shiba Pillai-Diaz, that she was fired for
not removing a picture of President George W. Bush from a classroom bulletin board. The
claim is false. While I am normally reluctant to discuss personnel matters in public, Ms. Pillai-
Diaz’ distortions of the facts, along with her aggressive efforts to get herself national media
attention, leave us no choice but to set the record straight.
The facts are as follows:
Ms. Pillai-Diaz is a new Language Arts teacher in the South Brunswick Schools.
Recently, the school administration began receiving complaints from students and parents that
Ms. Pillai-Diaz was using her position, classroom and teaching time to engage in partisan
politics. Students reported that she had made statements which denigrated one party over the
other. The conversations included Ms. Pillai-Diaz telling some students who offered opinions
contrary to her statements, that she was “glad they were not old enough to vote.” Other
comments to students, including such statements as, “you should be ashamed to be a
Democrat” have been verified through student interviews.
A classroom bulletin board, normally intended for curriculum-related matters, was set
up as what she herself described as a “personal bulletin board.” On the bulletin board she
placed a picture of the President, the President's dog, the Oval Office and several other
Presidential artifacts. In addition, she placed a stuffed elephant on a classroom cabinet, which
generated student reaction and discussion about partisan politics.
Following receipt of complaints from parents, the Assistant Principal met with Ms.
Pillai-Diaz and cautioned her not to engage in partisan political discussions in her Language
Arts classes. He did not initially ask her to remove the picture of the President. As the issue
grew in intensity, the teacher herself chose to remove the stuffed elephant because of student
comments.
In the ensuing days, parents expressed increasing concern about the teacher's classroom
behavior, the misuse of classroom instructional time and the personal bulletin board. The level
of concern resulted in a classroom confrontation between some parents and Ms. Pillia-Diaz at
the Back-to-School night program. It was at this point that the school administration decided to
intervene again.
On Friday morning, October 1, Ms. Pillai-Diaz was directed by the Assistant Principal
to remove bulletin board materials because they were being viewed as contributing to an
ongoing disruption of the teaching-learning environment. She refused. She then met with the
Principal who repeated the directive. At this point, Ms. Pillai-Diaz abruptly left the building,
abandoning her post of duty and her classroom responsibilities.
At no time was she told to leave, asked to leave or given authorization to leave.
School was still in session. At no time was she told she was suspended or fired. With
professional responsibilities of a classroom teacher waiting, Ms. Pillai-Diaz chose, of her own
volition, to walk out of the school, contact various media sources and claim she had been fired.
I had occasion to meet with Ms. Pillai-Diaz, along with a union representative and a
police escort that she had requested, for approximately two hours when she returned to the
building later that same afternoon. After listening to her story, I asked if any member of the
administration had used the phrase "you're fired" or anything that remotely sounded like it. She
admitted that no one had used any such language. When I further pursued why she reported to
media sources that she had been fired, she said that she "thought" that she had been. I
explained that principals cannot fire employees, that only Boards of Education can do so. With
her union representative present, she said that she now understood. I asked that when she next
spoke with the media, that she clarify her new understanding.
I fully support the actions of the Principal and Assistant Principal. It is never
acceptable for a teacher to utilize the classroom to advocate for political purposes or advance
personal beliefs. The courts have always admonished teachers for proselytizing in public
school classrooms. This issue is not about a picture of the President, but rather a zealous
misuse of seventh and eighth grade student instructional time.
The South Brunswick School community is enormously respectful of the Office of the
President of the United States, President Bush and the democratic process for choosing our
President. Anyone trying to suggest the contrary has the worst of intentions. Under other
circumstances, the display of a picture of the President would have been viewed as completely
appropriate and uncontroversial.
It is important to note that pictures of President Bush are openly displayed in all of the
South Brunswick Schools. The teacher’s own actions here, however, took it out of the realm of
education and made the presentation appear partisan to many of our students and parents.
Under these circumstances, our actions in directing the removal of the display were singularly
appropriate.
Gary P. McCartney Ed D.
Superintendent of Schools
South Brunswick School District
-----Original Message-----
From: "John McNiel" <marine@humboldt1.com>
To: <rlong@sbschools.org>
Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2004 14:48:56 -0700
Subject: You kicked out a teacher for showing a photo of our president?
Shiba Pillai-Diaz? You should be ashamed. Don't look for continueing employment - You won't be appointed again.
). But to lump all educators into some ready made Enemy of the Republic guise is not only misleading, it is demonstratably false.
Now I'll just tell you that I live in a small town in central Nebraska, and I have to deprogram my kids weekly. Suffice it to say some of the teachers at the school here don't much like seeing me at conference time. E