Dozens of people attended Tuesday’s Williamsburg-James City County School Board meeting, as the public debate continues over a board member’s comments last month about students who don’t speak English.
As the board discussed its budget request on March 19, member Michael Hosang asserted that a relatively large group of students who do not speak English had begun attending schools, and that he “would like to know what is being hidden from the parents and the school board.”
“It should be easy to provide information as to why these students are here, who they are, are they legally here, should we as a school district be spending our funds, which are designated for those who are citizens in our city and county, to those who might not be here legally,” he said that night.
Board Vice Chair Andrea Donnor described his comments as racist tropes, and the dispute has dominated local political discussions since. On Tuesday, 50 people addressed the board about the issue.
In response to an email from Hosang, the school division staff told the board that at Warhill High School, there were six students representing different genders and ethnicities enrolled between Feb. 1 and March 4.
“So again, there is no large influx,” Donnor said.
“When you actually read the nature of the question, it was very inflammatory,” she said, referring to Hosang’s email. “In talking about why aren’t parents being notified, the quote is, ‘Our children’s safety is at issue here, especially if these individuals are undocumented and illegal all coming in at once, especially with all the attention around the country of illegals raping, killing others including students.’”
The Virginia Gazette has requested a copy of the email, but it has not yet been made public.
As he has since the March meeting, Hosang said Tuesday that his questions were part of his ongoing attempt to learn more about the school system’s budget and the issues it faces.
“It appears that some of you misunderstood, intentionally or otherwise, what I was saying at the last public board meeting and listened to the dog whistle of calling me a racist,” he said. “We were talking about the budget. I and many others had questions on several issues that affect the budget and the impact the proposed budget would have on all our students, questions that remained unanswered when it came time to vote.
“I in good conscience could not agree to spend our tax dollars when I was unsure what those tax dollars would be spent on, the impact of those expenditures within the system, and particularly, the impact of the quality of education all students would receive,” he added.
The public comments seemed evenly split on Hosang’s comments and the reaction to them. Many wore blue to show support for multilingual students at the urging of the Williamsburg-James City Education Association. The speakers largely avoided naming specific board members and instead alluded to them with context.
“I really am incensed and disgusted … by the remark of one of the members of this board calling Mister Unknown Name an evil and inflammatory word,” said Rosanne Reddin, a retired teacher. “I believe he should be given credit for doing the job he was elected to do — that is making our schools exceptional places of learning for all the students.”
Emma Munis, an English as a second language, or ESL, teacher at Jamestown High School, said she had answers to the questions.
“As a teacher, I would like to make it clear that all students, no matter where they are from, how they get to our building, or when they arrive, are welcome in our classrooms. As teachers, it is our job to make sure students feel welcome from the moment they walk in the door on their first day to (the) day they proudly walk across the graduation stage.”
“The words expressed by a board member at the last meeting are not representative of my beliefs,” Munis said. “That view on the education system is severely lacking in understanding, and as adults and professionals, I expect my school board member to have done their research before speaking on a topic.”
At the end of the meeting, school board Chair Sarah Ortego thanked the public for their input and said it’s time to get back to work.
“I think it’s time for this conversation to stop being about us, she said. “The children are the focus, the work is the focus, and so it’s time for that conversation, that part, to end.”
Sam Schaffer, samuel.schaffer@virginiamedia.com
