To the editor:

Like many East Bay residents, I’ve followed with growing dismay the ongoing actions and statements of the current leadership of the Bristol Warren School Committee. Their most recent antics include their refusal to enforce (or even follow) State mandates on mask wearing in public buildings, their failure to set up and follow an inclusive process in the recent hiring of yet another superintendent, and their recent denial of the expenditure of $7,000 in grant money endorsed and recommended by the Mt. Hope principal and the Bristol Warren Education Foundation.

During their tenure, the Bristol Warren School Committee’s chair and her allies have created a climate of adversity, a culture of non-inclusiveness. They override the decisions and micromanage the activities of the school district administrators without adequate explanation or discussion, leading to a revolving door of superintendents. When faced with yet another superintendent vacancy, they promise an inclusive vetting process but then conduct their job search without community input or the contractually mandated participation of the teacher’s union.

Too often, they meet public questioning or criticism with silence or disdain. School Committee meetings dissolve into chaos, and far too often it appears politics are driving the decisions of these committee members, not the best interests of the students they were elected to promote.

Amid this chaos, I was so proud to see the members of the Mt. Hope Student Union and their supporters stand up to these School Committee leaders and demand accountability. Student Union members spoke their truth in a public forum, and they refused to allow their voices to be silenced by some Committee members. Their strength and determination contrast sharply with the inconsistent, inadequate and unaccountable actions of the current School Committee leadership.

I applaud the Student Union members and their allies and encourage them to actively register their colleagues to vote in the November 2022 election. Perhaps if more Bristol and Warren voters take the time to vote down ballot for those elected to serve on the Bristol Warren School Committee, our students will be better served by Committee members more interested in student welfare than political divide.

Warren Wollschlager
123 Beach Road