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Cailee Olitt

Potential Shifts in the District

In early May, South Orange Maplewood School District (SOMSD) Interim Superintendent Thomas Ficarra and architect Scott Downey proposed a $131 million plan to fix the district’s facilities, expand space and solve the issues of overcrowding and segregation that are currently at hand. This proposal included significant shifts in the structure of several SOMSD schools, especially South Orange Middle School (SOMS) and Maplewood Middle School (MMS). Ficarra and Downey suggested that the elementary schools become K-4 instead of K-5, that all students in grades five and six attend MMS and all students in grades seven and eight attend SOMS, regardless of whether they live in South Orange or Maplewood.

According to Village Green, Ficarra “wanted to ensure that ‘every school has the same demographic as the entire district,’” and in order to achieve this goal, he plans to redraw district lines for elementary schools so they can be completely integrated. However, Shayna Cohen, ‘19, doesn’t feel that these proposals will help with segregation issues. “At a young age, such as fifth or sixth grade, I think that students will still group themselves together by race and socioeconomic status, and therefore those divides will continue throughout their educational lives,” explained Cohen. On the other hand, she is confident that Ficarra and Downey’s proposal will solve overpopulation problems “because students will be more spread out.”

Although Ficarra doesn’t aim to begin construction within the district until the Summer of 2019, he will be taking the next month and a half to discuss his proposal with the community and the Board of Education (BOE). He will also continue reviewing this plan again in September, and hopes to gain BOE approval by October 1.

Via South Orange Maplewood School District

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Eli Verdun

Speeding Ticket Leaves a Town Divided

On April 27, South Orange-Maplewood Board of Education (BOE) member Stephanie Lawson-Muhammad was pulled over on Maplewood Avenue for driving at a speed of 37 mph in a 25 mph speed limit.

South Orange police officer Shaun Horst pulled over Lawson-Muhammad at approximately 8 AM. Officer Horst approached Lawson-Muhammad’s vehicle and began to speak to the woman. As seen in dash cam footage released by the South Orange Police Department, Lawson-Muhammad said, “I’m on the school board. I’m a community member of this town and I am sorry if I was speeding.” Attempting to use her civic privilege to avoid a ticket, Officer Horst didn’t buy it. Lawson-Muhammad continued to complain to the officer. She told him that her daughter was going to be late to PARCC testing and both parties agreed to let the girl walk to school. Lawson-Muhammad also asked Officer Horst to call the middle school to tell them her daughter was going to be late, but he declined. During the traffic stop, Lawson-Muhammad began to panic and cry when speaking to Officer Horst. The officer offered to call an ambulance, but Lawson-Muhammad denied and called this gesture “a [obscenity] insult.” He persisted and asked for her license, registration, and insurance card. Lawson-Muhammad handed the officer an expired insurance card. She was issued a summons for not having a valid insurance card and for speeding. Lawson-Muhammad fought the charges and got her husband on the phone to back her up. Officer Horst still gave Lawson-Muhammad the summons. Throughout the encounter, Lawson-Muhammad swore at Officer Horst and even called him a ‘skinhead’.

In the aftermath of this event, The Village Green reported that Lawson-Muhammad issued a letter of apology. She said, “I want to sincerely apologize for my uncharacteristic behavior displayed in the police video on April 27...I fell short of the standards to which I hold myself.” Other members of the community such as Walter Field did not accept Lawson-Muhammad’s apology. According to Village Green NJ, Fields - of the Black Parents Workshop - said, in the case of Lawson-Muhammad, “The officer should be commended for his professionalism, demeanor and the respect he showed a citizen who immediately attempted to use her position to intimidate him. There are real incidents of police misconduct. This was not one of them.” Fields went on to call for the immediate resignation of Lawson-Muhammad and BOE president Elizabeth Baker. Like Fields, a Seth Boyden kindergarten teacher was flabbergasted with Lawson-Muhammad’s actions. According to The Village Green, the local teacher and lifelong South Orange resident said in an official statement, “[Lawson-Muhammad’s] interaction with Officer Horst is the opposite of what we teach our children. Her blatant disregard for the law and her statement that she believes she deserves entitlement are a direct contradiction to the responsibilities of the SOMSD Board of Education members who are tasked “for developing policy to ensure the proper care, management and control of District affairs.”

To date, no action has been taken against any party involved in this altercation. Lawson-Muhammad remains with the BOE and plans to work to undo the controversy she started.

Fox News

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Sam Maidenberg

WE THE PEOPLE

In addition to the April 20 school walkout, a new art installment in response to the prevalent issue of school shootings opened on May 4. The exhibit titled We The People opened in the Domareki Gallery at Columbia High School (CHS). The gallery features portraits of various students along with candles, flowers, light music, and a platform with a box to put prayers or thoughts. The pictures are mostly zoomed in on the students’ faces that are facially expressing their feelings regarding the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida.

Consisting of approximately 120 pictures, the project was named We The People as a play on words from the constitution, when independent rights were demanded by the founders of America. Similar to the document from 1787, “The Project is about demanding gun safety in schools.” said Jon Fisher, director of the project and CHS photography teacher, in an article from the Essex Daily News. Although the exhibit closes at the end of May, student activists will continue to use other platforms to demand gun control reforms.