Sometimes you just have to know when to give up and walk away.

My parting letter to the three staff who remain at Fairfield School. I will drop this off tomorrow morning along with the book I refer to (which, btw is highly recommended reading!)...

Dear J, M, and M:

I bought this book, “Just because it’s not wrong doesn’t make it right: From toddlers to teens, teaching kids to think and act ethically” by Barbara Coloroso, for Fairfield School a couple of weeks ago when I heard her speak at a conference in Halifax. Many of the things she said in her talk seemed to me to be directly relevant to what was happening at Fairfield at the time (it was the Saturday after your emergency School Meeting where Jesse, Brendan, Angela, Frank, and Gillian had been unjustly suspended).

As I’ve been reading this book (I also bought myself a copy), I’m coming to suspect that at the heart of the current issues that divide us is a fundamental difference in ethic between the group of us who have voiced our concerns and you (and the other two sets of parents, new to the school, who support you). Barbara Coloroso defines “ethic” as: “A basic human moral attitude – a way of being in the world connected so deeply and pervasively to the whole of our humanity that there is no need to impose it, regulate it, or enforce it.” In our cases, both sides see themselves as being “right” and the other side as “wrong”, but arguments can be made for the “rightness” of each side with reference to the ethic we follow in our daily lives. Our ethic is based on determining what is morally “right” by taking into account circumstances and situational factors and acting in ways that are “reasonable” given those factors, whereas your ethic appears to revolve entirely around rules and applying rules when they serve your own interests and disregarding them when they don’t.

Because for each of us our ethic is rooted so deeply, it is highly resistant to change. I am very proud of Jesse, Brendan, and Angela for standing up for what they believe in against enormous animosity and resistance from you three and, in the G's case, your well-coached children; I admire these students’ actions -- the same actions that you condemn. Why is that? Because we have a fundamental difference in our ethic. I was happy to see that the democratic process that you had previously tried to suppress (secret ballots, all School Meeting members given the opportunity to be present to participate and vote) was upheld at the School Meeting yesterday; however, although democracy was upheld, I feel that principles of justice were not.

I see no point in continuing to fight for justice at Fairfield or to try to make any changes to the way things are done. Based on my recent experiences with you, any efforts are likely to be futile. Just look what happened when we tried to call an emergency Assembly Meeting in a pro-active move to discuss and try to resolve the issues that were threatening to divide us. You widened the divide when you deliberately broke the rules in your efforts to prevent the meeting, yet you see your actions as being “right”. You broke the laws of natural justice in your attempts, the day after we sent out the notice of the meeting, to get rid of those who disagreed with you, and again you see your actions as being “right”. In both cases, not only does my own ethic tell me that your actions were wrong, the law says so too.

Three students were suspended because they broke some rules; how are YOU to be held accountable for breaking the rules that you broke (trying to block the duly called emergency assembly meeting, going into the students’ cubbies and removing the meeting notices, “suspending” two staff members who had not been “charged” with anything, with no hearing or trial, or opportunity for defense – all basic human rights that are laid out in the School Meeting Lawbook)? There is no mechanism at Fairfield to hold you accountable for your actions. To me, that is unjust.

I would have felt a lot more optimistic that things could have been worked out if you had acknowledged YOUR role in creating the atmosphere of tension that came to dominate the Fairfield environment during the past few weeks and acknowledged that YOU had also broken rules, instead of blaming everything that took place on a small group of students and staff members that dared to challenge something they saw as wrong. I note that you appear to feel no remorse about breaking some serious rules/laws, and continue to attempt to justify your actions, just as the kids did when they broke some minor rules to make a point – they got indefinitely suspended for their actions while you are allowed to continue on. Where is the justice in that? In my eyes, there is a serious flaw in a school system that would allow such a thing.

Jesse does not want to return to Fairfield because of the above problems with the school, and I do not plan to enroll Liam for next September either. Your actions have resulted in the loss of Jesse, Liam, Angela, Brendan, Risa, Frank, and Gillian. Fortunately, there are other alternatives to Fairfield School and public school. You must feel relieved to get rid of us “trouble-makers” (I have no doubt that’s how you see us), the ones who dared to call attention to the flaws in the Fairfield system, a system that you somehow manage to see as being consistent with the Sudbury Valley philosophy. Note that every family who has been at Fairfield for longer than a year, excluding yourselves, is opposed to your recent actions – we are the ones who experienced a very different and wonderful Fairfield prior to this year. Does it not say something to you that the only families who are “on your side” are two families who have been at Fairfield only a few months? As long as you continue to drive out those who have the courage to voice their dissent, Fairfield will never evolve into a better place, and it will continue to diverge from the Sudbury Valley philosophy. My son will leave knowing that he fought for a just cause and, he has learned that, unfortunately, no matter how just the cause, not all fights for justice can be won; sometimes you have to know when to quit.

Sincerely,

Susan

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 Any "unschooling" home-schoolers our there who would care to share their experiences or have ideas on what to do now?!  Feel free to email us at nsmusicjam@hotmail.com -- we'd love to hear from you!  

 

Peace,

 

Indigo