KENT—Former Board of Education chairman Scott Trabucco has issued the Park and Recreation Commission a letter excoriating some commission members’ “jaw-dropping” opposition to partnering with Kent Land Trust and Project SAGE in a hike to heighten awareness of domestic violence.
The letter was read into the record during the Monday, Oct. 21, commission meeting.
The commission did eventually vote to partner with the other two agencies in the Take Back the Hike event, which was held the weekend before on KLT’s Skiff Mountain Trail.
Recreation Director Matt Busse was among the 24 participants.
“At the last meeting [Sept. 16], there were, unfortunately, three commission members who jaw-droppingly couldn’t support an effort against domestic violence because of what was described as ‘political’ issues at [Kent Center School],” Trabucco wrote.
He was referring to opposition by some parents to a program conducted by Project SAGE which attempts to teach seventh and eighth graders about tolerance and self-respect. It includes discussions of domestic violence, sexual preferences, gender identity and other sensitive subjects that some parents believe are best addressed within their individual families.
The course is administered in all Region 1 towns, of which Kent is a part. Trabucco noted that no child is required to take the course and that it is state sponsored.
“Unfortunately, for the last year or two there has been a small group of parents … who have made the issue political,” Trabucco wrote. “[They] … are angry that there is a class at KCS for seventh and eighth graders that mentions gay people and the fact that some people are more comfortable with they/them pronouns, etc. It is, literally, like 10 minutes of a six- or seven-class [course] that is meant to teach respect for yourself and others. Even people that you disagree with. Even people with different beliefs than you.”
“To watch two commission members, who also serve on the Board of Education, turn this tactic on Project SAGE, a very valuable local organization that has done an incredible amount of good in its 45 years, was really demoralizing,” he continued.
He accused them of “dragging Project SAGE’s reputation through the mud,” and said the Board of Education members have “allowed the situation to fester for more than a year without speaking up on the school board on either side of the issue.”
Kate Symonds, who is a member of the Board of Education and Park and Recreation, rebutted Trabucco’s allegations. She said Board of Education members are elected and “as such, our impartiality is expected.” She noted that Park and Recreation is also a town commission representing the entire community.
“Because I sit on both the BOE and KPR—and because there has been discussion and disagreement about certain parts of the curriculum at Kent Center School, I was obliged to abstain from a KPR vote on whether not to support an activity sponsored by the same organization that designs that curriculum.”
“My abstention was solely due to concern about a display of bias, she said. “My abstention had nothing to do with my personal opinions about the organization, the curriculum, or efforts against domestic violence. It was neither an attempt to disparage nor support the organization. It was an effort to maintain impartiality.”
Veering away from her prepared response, Symonds said, “Scott, I do want to say you misinterpreted my vote, you misrepresented my motives and publicly disparaged my character based on incorrect assumptions.”
In his letter, Trabucco also admonished the Park and Recreation Commission for not recording which members voted yea or nay in the split decision.
Chairman Rufus P. de Rham moved to amend the Sept. 16 minutes to reflect the individual votes.
