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| School, Massey bombarded with calls, e-mail after vets' tour at high school is nixed |
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| Wednesday, 26 March 2008 | |
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Cliff Buchan News Editor If the general public and former members of the military believe Forest Lake High School is anti-military, they are wrong, said Steve Massey, principal. On Wednesday, Massey and other school officials in ISD 831 were digging out from under the avalanche of e-mails to hit school computers after Tuesday’s Vets for Freedom tour stop at the high school was called off by Massey. Phone banks were also jammed, mostly by people upset with the school and venting about the school decision, Massey said. By noon, Massey said he had received well over 700 e-mails and more than 150 voice-mail messages on his phone. “We struck a nerve,” Massey said, referring to the firestorm that followed the cancelation of the National Heroes tour that was being brought to Forest Lake by Pete Hegseth, executive director of the national organization and a Forest Lake High School graduate. When the event was canceled it was moved to the American Legion Post. The visit was designed, Massey said, as an educational experience for 150 social studies students who had planned to spend 90 minutes listening to the stories of veterans and war heroes. But when the tour began to attract attention and complaints from individuals opposed to the war in Iraq, Massey said he felt the correct decision was to cancel the event to avoid any student distractions and disruptions. Safety concerns were also listed as a school concern. That move, he said, was regrettable but unavoidable Not anti-vet In a meeting arranged by Massey on Wednesday, representatives of the Forest Lake American Legion and VFW were assured that the furor that surfaced on Tuesday in no way reflected any intent to criticize veterans. Massey said the service organizations were told the school was proud of veterans and the relationship. The school, Massey said, has a long tradition of recognizing the service of vets and demonstrates it by sending school bands and choral groups to veteran programs and by welcoming Legion and VFW color guards to school events and opening classroom doors to vets who serve as speakers. After reading mail and listening to phone messages, Massey said many conveyed the message that the cancelation was a sign of disrespect to veterans. The history of the school does not reflect that, Massey said, begging to respectfully disagree with many callers and writers. “The reality is, our door was open,” Massey said of the March 25 event. What happened? During Wednesday’s one-hour interview, the principal outlined the process and what went wrong. Discussions for the Vets for Freedom visit started more than two weeks ago as the national tour kicked off in California. Massey said his discussions with Hegseth were shaped in the context that the visit had to be about military service and its importance to the country, and not any kind of a debate on the war in Iraq or as a military recruitment tool. That agreement was struck and in place, he said. When news of the visit broke eight days ago, the school began to hear some noise of protest, Massey said. That noise grew louder and Massey’s concerns greater when the Vets for Freedom planned a media event in the high school parking lot prior to the visit with students. “The event became quite public,” Massey said. Fearing protests and disruptions to the school day, Massey moved late Monday to call off the event. “We felt we had structured a teaching tool for our students,” he said. But with the publicity starting to grow, Massey said he believed the mere presence of the organization on campus in any fashion would bring anti-war and pro-war protestors to the school. Massey said public schools must walk a “fine line” and it should not be the school’s place to push any form of political agenda. “We had an awesome event planned,” he said. “It’s unfortunate we couldn’t have pulled this off.” Responding to the criticism from Hegseth that he caved in and from District 52A Rep. Bob Dettmer, R-Forest Lake, a retired high school teacher here, that the action was censorship, Massey disagreed. “This wasn’t about censuring anyone’s opinion,” Massey said. “This was about trying to not make this visit about a political message.” Massey says he is not second-guessing his decision. If he could relive the past two weeks, however, he said he would have insisted on tighter event planning beyond the 90 minutes the group would be with students. That would include limits on publicity on school grounds. “We weren’t looking for all the fanfare coming with the tour,” Massey said. By the time the event was moved to the Legion, Massey said he had little time to attend. The e-mails and phone messages saw to that, he said. Massey said 40 students left the school to attend the event and most had permission slips from parents. Those who did not have permission will not be disciplined, he said. Vets for Freedom, which reports 21,000 members, bills itself as a nonpartisan organization established by combat veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The organization’s mission is to educate the American public about the importance of achieving success in these conflicts by applying first-hand knowledge to issues of American strategy and tactics in Iraq. According to its website, The Vets for Freedom National Heroes Tour is about supporting our troops, honoring their commitment, and rallying the country to complete the missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Social Bookmarking ...       |
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