The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

September 14, 2009

UPDATE: Hermitage superintendent explains decision on Obama speech; school will show it Friday

By Joe Pinchot

HERMITAGE — Dr. Daniel Bell has only been superintendent of Hermitage School District since Sept. 2, and he found himself on the hot seat Monday over his decision not to show President Barack Obama’s Sept. 8 address to students.

School director Jane Levine Matusick called the decision an embarrassment, while Alan Warren took exception to her comment and others supported the superintendent’s decision under the circumstances.

The quick and dirty for parents is that the address will be shown to all students Friday, but parents who do not want their children to see it can have them opt out.

Bell explained that he received a call from a parent Sept. 3 asking if he planned to show the address. He said he had not heard about it and other administrators also were unaware of it.

“We never received official notification that this was coming,” he said.

The superintendent’s office got about 50 calls from people for and against the address by the next day, but some of the parents told Bell that, if he was planning to show the address, they wanted to be notified.

Bell said there was no way he could notify everybody — although Friday, Sept. 4, was a school day, Labor Day was Monday, Sept. 7, and the president was speaking the next day — so Bell decided that it would not be shown. However, Bell said, he had school staff record the address.

“I think we made a big mistake by not showing it,” Mrs. Matusick said. “I don’t care what other schools did. I am embarrassed.”

Board members Dr. Morren J. Greenburg and Rob Gelesky said they thought the address should have been shown to students.

“I would have liked my kids in the district to see a part of history,” Gelesky said. Showing the address after the fact removes some of its “luster,” he said.

Board member Raymond Slovesko said the decision was not embarrassing because it was the product of a short time frame.

“This wasn’t part of our curriculum,” Slovesko said. “It was a special event. I think we made every effort to provide it for those who want to see it.”

Slovesko added that he had not seen the address and would like to.

Warren bristled at Mrs. Matusick’s calling Bell’s decision an “embarrassment.

“He got all the facts and had a contingency plan,” said Warren.

Board President Victor J. Ellenberger said the board needs to set a tone for administrators and students.

“If we’re going to be the leaders of the school, we need to know that these people are important,” he said. “It’s history.”

Ellenberger noted that, although he is a Republican, he went to see former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, speak at a Hillary Clinton presidential campaign rally at the high school because Clinton had been president.

Monday, Bell presented the school board with two options: show the address to every student on one day, or allow teachers to show it in their classes. The board decided, without officially voting, to show it one day.

Bell read to the board the letter for parents he said will be sent home with students.

“That’s a beautiful letter,” Mrs. Matusick said. “It should have gone out the next day.”

Parents also will receive telephone calls informing them that a notice for them is coming home with students.

Students who do not see the address will be taken to separate rooms for a “meaningful” exercise, Bell said.

Bell thanked the board for its guidance. He said the presidential address was a “unique situation” in his years as an administrator.

“I want to be here a long time,” he said.

Obama’s address will be posted on the district’s Web site.

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