The following letter was sent by Brewster Central School District:
Invitation to Town Hall Meeting August 22, 2017
August 11, 2017
Dear Parents and Families,
I hope that you are enjoying your summer. Schools will re-open on Tuesday, September 5. Children attending the JFK Elementary School will enter a completely transformed building. Children at the CV Starr Intermediate School will enter classrooms that are air conditioned as well as four new classrooms and several small group instruction spaces. We will have ribbon cutting ceremonies at the September Board meetings for both schools. Additionally, we will also arrange tours through the JFK Elementary School for staff, parents and students so that everyone can celebrate this amazing renovation. These dates and times will be shared at a later date.
At this point, you are well aware of two issues that have garnered a great deal of attention in the community. We need a forum that allows us to have a productive discussion about these issues that many of you care about. As a result, we are conducting a Town Hall Meeting on August 22 from 5:30pm-6:30pm in the Performing Arts Center at Brewster High School. The purpose of this Town Hall Meeting called, Brewster in the 21st Century: Building Success For A Changing World , is to engage our community in a discussion about the widely viewed racist video created by a few of our recent graduates and a new logo that we will be using alongside our Brewster bear mascot to symbolize the academic and social emotional skills represented in our Strategic Coherence Plan . These two issues frame the tensions around what image we should project about our beliefs and values and how the community can ensure the success of all children.
We will have a moderator who will facilitate a panel discussion that includes Brewster High School students, Brewster School Board Trustees, Faith Leaders, Parent Teacher Association leaders, a local realtor, Trustees from the Village of Brewster, a Council Person from the Town of Southeast, a representative from the Town of Patterson and me. The meeting will start with introductions followed by the moderator who will ask the panelists a few generic questions that have been prepared in advance. In the second half of the meeting, the audience will have a chance to present their questions written on index cards to the moderator who will read the questions and ask a panelist to respond. If we run out of time, we will prepare a Q&A document that will be placed on our website so that all questions will be addressed.
We hope that those who planned to attend the August 22 Board meeting at 6:30pm will come to the Town Hall Meeting, which is solely dedicated to these two issues. If we run out of time, we will convene another Town Hall Meeting. We can also consider a later start time for the meeting such as 6:30pm or 7:00pm. On August 22, we will also invite those who are interested to join a Task Force on Brewster in the 21st Century. We will provide information for how those who are not present may sign up. All of this ensures that our children observing this Town Hall Meeting view it as an example of civic responsibility, which is one of the important 21st century social-emotional skills outlined in our Strategic Coherence Plan . Our Strategic Coherence Planning Team developed the following definition of civic responsibility: The ability to make a difference in the civic life of our communities by promoting and contributing to the interconnectedness of our communities through both political and nonpolitical activities.
We look forward to seeing you on August 22 at 5:30pm in the PAC at Brewster High School. Thank you and enjoy the rest of your summer.
Warmly,
Valerie Henning-Piedmonte