Secret group blasts district
Spa City schools: Statement didn’t say policy was violated
Moving Saratoga Forward, a group that is questioning the Saratoga Springs City School District’s racial equity and inclusion work, is bawling out the district for not adhering to its guest speaker policy when two local Black Lives Matter leaders spoke to high school students.
But the district spokeswoman said the group is mischaracterizing the school’s response to the event.
In an email circulated to its followers Monday with the subject line “Caught Red Handed, Saratoga Schools Admit Wrong Doing,” Moving Saratoga Forward said a teacher “violated district protocol by bringing unapproved speakers into the classroom.”
“Well today, Saratoga Springs School Administrators admitted guilt!,” the email said. It quoted from a statement released by the district that read, the “guest speaker approval procedures were not followed with fidelity. Thus we are examining our guest speaker process to assess how it can be strengthened and improved.”
When reached on Tuesday, district spokeswoman Maura Manny said that the district did not say the session violated its policy. She said the full statement says “we address controversial issues that have educational value, are developmentally appropriate, and are relevant to the curriculum in a manner that balances major views to assure that as many sides of the issue possible are presented in a fair manner.”
The statement also said while not everyone will agree with the topics or viewpoints expressed, hearing “multiple perspectives is part of the educational experience for our students to prepare them for future success . ... Giving students a chance to assess different viewpoints and apply critical thinking skills, particularly at the secondary level, is consistent with our mission.”
Local BLM leader Lexis Figuereo and his sister, Chandler Hickenbottom, spoke with two classes about the pros and cons of civil disobedience, which is part of the high school curriculum. Figuereo said that the discussion was a good one and that the student questions were “very insightful.”
He said he received no complaints from students, parents, teachers or administrators about their talk. But, he said, Moving Saratoga Forward got wind of it and posted on its Facebook page, calling the talk “a huge story.”
A total of 55 commenters said that “teachers should be checked to see if they themselves are BLM or Antifa members” while another member said “another beautiful city will be destroyed if this is allowed.”
But another commenter called the group “unhinged . .... You are the same type that burn books, (and) mentions god as a crutch for your hate.”
Figuereo, who attended Saratoga Springs schools, said that he believes he and his sister are being used as pawns and scapegoats.
“It’s fearmongering,” Figuereo said. “It does nothing but put me and my people in more danger . ... It’s disgusting. They are not trying to move Saratoga forward. They want to move it backward.”
Administrators of Moving Saratoga Forward’s Facebook page did not respond to a Times Union request for further comment. The administrator, in another Facebook post, wrote that they were remaining anonymous “to pay hommage (sic) to this country’s rich history of anonymous speech in politics.”
The group chided the district again in an email Tuesday afternoon, claiming it was “dismissing” constituents’ voices by not putting emails into the Board of Education record.
Manny said the group’s second email is “not accurate” and the board is accepting emails for the record, but “the district will not accept anonymous emails without a name and address.”
Though the identity of those behind the group remains a secret, it has tried to influence other school policy. Most recently, it advocated against the addition of anti-racism language to school policy.
The conservative-leaning group has, in the past, aligned with Parents for Safer Schools to back candidates for school board — including the two who oppose the term ‘anti-racism” in the school’s equity and inclusion policy. The policy, which was recommended by the state Board of Regents, will be adopted and implemented soon.