Friday, October 22, 1999
Gun controversy prompts school board to cancel meeting
BY CHRISTINE WOLFF
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Dr. John Varis
|
READING — The Reading school board canceled a Thursday meeting — and its regular monthly meeting scheduled Monday — after controversy over Superintendent John Varis' remarks on arming teachers seemed ready to take over the agendas.
A meeting will be scheduled later solely to discuss school safety issues, and the agenda for Thursday's meeting — a look at the district's goals — also will be reset, Dr. Varis said. The board's next scheduled meeting is Nov. 22.
In a letter to parents Wednesday, Dr. Varis emphasized the district had no plans to arm teachers.
The notice of the meetings' cancellations, sent home Thursday with schoolchildren, bothered some Reading parents.
“I think they're circling the wagons and trying to prepare themselves for the onslaught they were going to receive about this,” said Kathy Korte, whose two children attend Reading's Hilltop Elementary School. “I have no problem with schools being well prepared and teaching safety issues. But arming the teachers goes too far. It's going into a dangerous extreme.”
“We don't know what to think,” said Linette Kiefer, a parent who is working on Reading school board campaigns. “We don't know if they're shutting us down or what.”
Dr. Varis said the meetings were canceled because the board's business was getting lost in the controversy.
“We want to resume the dialogue regarding how safe we can make the schools for staff and students. We're trying to react to the apparent interest,” Dr. Varis said Thursday. “Every effort is being made to maintain the business of the district through board meetings. By rescheduling, we think we can keep the focus on the business of the district.”
A discussion of Dr. Varis' comments was expected at Thursday's meeting. The issue of allowing teachers to carry guns came up in a brainstorming session Oct. 15 during a teacher in-service on self-defense, and Dr. Varis later commented on it in interviews with local and national media.
The comments have been exaggerated, Dr. Varis said.
“The whole issue has been mischaracterized, inflamed and distorted by certain individuals for their own purposes, to make me the issue for political purposes,” he said.
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