Students, Parents In Sparta Appeal To Board For Reinstatement Of English Teacher

SPARTA, NJ — Many Sparta students have questioned why a teacher has been allegedly suspended, showing up at the most recent Board of Education meeting to praise her and have launched a petition for her reinstatement.

As of Friday afternoon, the Change.org petition asking to bring back English and Women’s Studies teacher Kate Brennan has garnered the nearly 2,500 maximum signatures Maia Albuquerque sought when she started it, to hand off to the Sparta Board of Education.

Speakers at the meeting on Sept. 29, asserted that Brennan’s reported suspension was over the book “Ghost Boys” and the Board of Education’s discomfort with the material.

Ghost Boys is a work of historical fiction about a black youngster killed in a police shooting, while carrying a toy gun on the streets of Chicago.

Superintendent of Schools Matthew Beck, neither confirmed nor denied Brennan’s employment status, in response to an email inquiry from Patch.

“I am not legally permitted to discuss confidential personnel matters publicly and therefore, cannot comment on this matter one way or another,” Beck emailed back to Patch on Thursday.

Hints about Brennan's alleged suspension and the book started coming up during public comments on agenda items at that meeting, when Sparta resident Frank Sanchez asked why clubs like “Girl Up” and “We Are The Dream,” two that Brennan had advised named among ones he asked about, weren’t on a list of clubs up for approval at the meeting.

“Perhaps it’s similar to ‘Ghost Boys’ and the book that has been pulled,” Sanchez said. “Perhaps it’s similar to pressure about vaccinations at the Middle School last year.”

“Perhaps it’s pressure from residents that don’t even live in Sparta but outside, that have asked you guys to take these clubs down,” Sanchez continued.

Sanchez said he hoped that these clubs could remain for girls who “have these interests,” asserting that at the previous Board of Education meeting, he asked the board to pass a resolution about equity; and since then, an "administrator of color" had resigned and faculty members were threatened with discipline for particular materials.

“I think we need to show our students that we are with character and that Sparta’s a better town than this,” Sanchez said.

The Board didn’t respond to Sanchez or Todd Smith, a parent who chastised them after saying he had sat in on his daughter’s remote classes with Brennan, which he called “thought provoking and magnificent,” indicating although Brennan’s class was one of the hardest, it was also one of his daughter's favorites.

“If you have suspended her over an $11 book, shame on you,” Smith chided. “If you’ve suspended her because of her material and not sat in her class, also shame on you. Bring Mrs. Brennan back.”

In the petition though and at the meeting those who spoke in favor of Brennan and in opposition to her alleged suspension, Albuquerque described Brennan as an “incredible mentor, inspiration and supporter for all students.”

Albuquerque said that Brennan gave her the “support I needed and the hope that we could make Sparta a better place for all people,” when Albuquerque said she experienced discrimination.

“It astounds me that a school district as renowned as ours would suspend a teacher like Ms. Brennan and it makes me think if this board has the interest of themselves in their image or their students,” Rachel Rodriguez, one of Brennan’s students, said. “Lastly I would like to say, not to penalize progressive teachers.”

Gabby Olarte, a student at Sparta who said she was 18, told the Board of Education she was pulled out of class on Sept. 27, by Sparta High School Vice Principals Jamie Barker and Shannon Benson, about Brennan, claiming she was told it was because she was a “trustworthy student,” but stating it was otherwise because she was 18.

Olarte said Brennan had opened students’ eyes to racism and world injustices.

“The people who are criticizing Ms. Brennan and her class, are the same people who don’t recognize, the social injustices in our school community and country,” Olarte said, claiming students at the school have muttered racial slurs under their breath; and Brennan helped teenage girls with challenges they faced.

“You are afraid of change and by not addressing it, you are simply contributing to the problem,” Olarte told the Board.

Click here for the Change.org petition about Brennan.

Click here for the Board of Education meeting video.

Questions or comments about this story? Have a news tip? Contact me at: jennifer.miller@patch.com.