Dear Editor:
The Superintendent of Schools, the Hoboken Board of Education and politicians are planning to move our 8th grade Brandt Middle School students to Hoboken High School this September.
Can you imagine the consequences of having 12 and 13 year old girls and boys sharing a school with 17 and 18 year olds? Needless to say our children are extremely afraid and confused. They question why their year as the senior class is being taken away from them. They wonder if they will have a proper graduation ceremony or even a yearbook. Will they be segregated to a wing in the high school or will they be forced to deal emotionally and socially with issues they aren’t yet mentally or physically prepared for?
Mr. Gagliardi, Mr. Raslowsky, Mayor Roberts, members of the Board of Education and the Hoboken City Council, please stop this controversial decision that may very well have detrimental consequences for our young children. In conversing with other 8th grade parents who also choose to support public education, the question arises, “Why are our children now being denied their final year of middle school?”
How can someone with Mr. Raslowsky’s impeccable credentials, especially as a high school principal, even consider the possibility of placing 12 and 13 year olds in a high school setting? Half of these same students were forced to leave Demarest last year in order to attend Brandt. Haven’t they been through enough transition?
Elections are right around the corner, and parents must have their voices heard. Politicians continuously claim they want young families to stay in Hoboken and attend public schools. So here’s your chance to back up your words with your actions! Allow the Class of 2008 to graduate from Brandt Middle School.
A concerned parent & taxpayer