BREAKING: Secaucus student disciplined for asking question at school board meeting

SECAUCUS AND BEYOND – Some teachers, students, and parents in Secaucus are up in arms after a Secaucus High School sophomore was apparently forced to meet with senior school administrators and write a letter of apology after attending a recent school board meeting and asking a question.
In February, student Steven Kilawattie attended a public Secaucus Board of Education (BOE) meeting and got up to speak during the portion reserved for the public to comment. As a member of the high school’s Junior State of America chapter, and the chapter’s liaison to the BOE, it was not Kilawattie’s first appearance before the board. He had in the past given school administrators and board members updates on JSA activities.
On this occasion, however, the artistically inclined Kilawattie wanted to know why art classes were weighted differently than math and science courses.
According to Kilawattie’s father, the student was forced the next day to appear before “three adult authority figures.” Several of his teachers were also called into meetings and asked whether they had encouraged him to express his concerns.
A member of the Secaucus Education Association, the local teachers’ union, said the meetings with Kilawattie and teachers had a punitive feel to them.
“The greatest disappointment in all of this is how this student has learned a lesson that has been taught to him,” said Kilawattie’s father. “This student, who has never been a discipline problem, has participated in extracurricular activities, was a vocal peer [leader] who had the drive and desire to continue his education, now appears defeated and disengaged from the learning environment.”
At least three of Steven Kilawattie’s teachers – including popular esteemed art teacher Doug DePice and JSA advisor and social studies teacher Michael Gehm – confirmed at a March 24 school board meeting that the apparent reprimand Kilawattie received for speaking out in February has deeply affected the formerly outgoing sophomore.
The superintendent’s office said an investigation is being conducted.
Read this weekend’s Hudson Reporter newspapers for more on this story.