In an unprecedented show of support for their principal, more than 100 Aberdeen High School students ditched class Monday morning to protest the demotion and reassignment of principal Tom Szerensits by Robert Tomback, superintendent of Harford County Public Schools.
[Click below to hear the audio version of this story which aired on WAMD 970 AM]
[audio:http://www.daggerpress.com/wp-content/uploads/Cnv.-01-Track-11.mp3|titles=Cnv. 01 Track 1]Students had lined the sidewalk in front of the school by 7:30 a.m., waving signs and chanting “Save Mr. S.” while passing motorists honked their horns in approval. One student played a guitar, and a van full of students blasted Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It” through an open window as they arrived in the parking lot. Some students wore homemade T-shirts to send their message. In all, the protest drew a crowd of 150 to 200 people, according to Aberdeen Police, including some parents.
Police were on the scene and briefly shut down Paradise Road in front of the school as a safety measure after some students spilled onto the edge of street, according to Lt. Fred Budnick, public information officer for the Aberdeen Police Department. Budnick told The Dagger that while he wasn’t expecting any problems, Aberdeen Police had met with school officials late last week to develop an “operational plan” to handle the protest.
Sometime before 9:00 a.m., Szerensits made an appearance. According to a source, Szerensits thanked students for their support and asked them to return to class, which a majority did, the source said.
Several students told The Dagger that they hoped their outpouring of support would convince Superintendent Tomback to change his mind and reinstate Szerensits as principal. Aberdeen parent Wendy Cline echoed the students’ message, saying that she had never protested about anything before in her life, but she was out early Monday morning to support Szerensits.
A number of Harford County Public School officials were also on hand, including Teri Kranefeld, manager of communications, who on Saturday told The Dagger that the school system was expecting Monday to be a “normal instructional day.” Bob Benedetto, chief of security for HCPS, said that students were not being locked in the building, despite reports to the contrary.
Benedetto said that students were free to leave, but would be marked with an unexcused absence and a call would be made to parents, per standard procedure. He also said that students would be let back in the building at any time. Despite the fact that students had assembled on the sidewalk outside the school, Benedetto said that students were allowed to protest on school property as long as they weren’t disruptive to those inside the building. “If they’re peaceful, let it play out,” Benedetto said.
By 9:00 a.m., the crowd was gone and Paradise Road had been reopened, but the may not be over.
Updates to the “Save Szerensits” Facebook page showed plans being made for students, parents and alumni to carry their message directly to Tomback, at a school board meeting scheduled for tonight at 7:00 p.m. at the A.A. Roberty Building on Hickory Avenue in Bel Air.
Photo credit: “Save Szerensits” Facebook Group
At the meeting we did have a good turnout of about 50 people. 9 of us went up to speak. However, the board was not allowed to comment on what we said. Based on the reactions at the meeting we found out that most of the Board did not know about Szerensits being demoted. So it was basically Tomback who made the decision. We also found out that Tomback HAS NOT made a final decision on whether or not Szerensits is demoted yet. So now we will be getting petitions signed. We will also be attending the next Board Meeting on the 23rd. Also, we will be writing letters to our councilmen/women.
I was at the meeting…. I kept asking my self , all of this support from the students and parents, where are the teachers. And then it came out,a student said the rest of the teachers don’t care. Folks that is the answer.
Mr S would make a wonderful one room school Principal.He does not have the respect and support of the teachers.He is done. The Principal is the total leader, not just the favorite of the students.
And all that hollering the students did outside after they left the meeting, wiped out what you said inside.
This is in reply to Alongthetrail. You did ask a good question, wondering where all the teachers were, but in considering this, I think self preservation instincts kick in and they’d have to consider what effect getting up in front of “the ultimate boss” could have on their immediate careers. It appears Dr Tomback has the power to fire at will. Who, in this economy could take that chance on jeopardizing their own job?
I was at the meeting too and my take was just a little different. I know what you meant when you made the comment about the students standing outside chanting, at first, I thought the same thing “Oh no, they could be hurting their cause” but then, they were showing their passion for what they believe in, in the only way they could, the power of their voices. Near the end of the meeting when the kids came in and placed their “Save Szerensits signs on the chairs facing the board, did you notice the cameraman smiling?
I cannot speak for the teachers as to the respect or lack thereof for Mr Szerensits, but I do know he’s got the respect of the parents and students. Look at the Save Szerensits site, last count was at 934. The outpouring of support from this community has been tremendous and I’m very proud to be a part of it.
Principals and faculty all over this county have to be watching this carefully and wondering if they’ll be next. I noticed last night that there was not one person there from Joppatowne supporting their Principal. Everyone seems to think this is written in stone and there is no way Dr Tomback will change his mind. I hope that he will come to understand that it truly takes a big man to admit that sometimes they don’t always make all the right decisions and that it would in no way be seen as a sign of weakness or compromise or take away any credibility of future decisions by reversing his decision in this matter.
I hope this effort doesn’t loose momentum and just die out because people feel they can’t fight city hall, or in this case, the Superintendent.
Save Szerensits!
As a mom and full-time teacher, I was unable to attend the meeting. My failure to attend does NOT mean I’m a teacher who doesn’t care. I supported Mr. Szerensits by writing letters to the B.O.E. members. I sent letters and had my voice heard.
I am a teacher at AHS and I WOULD like to comment. You have to understand we as a staff are in a tough position and just because we are not speaking up and protesting does not mean that we don’t support him. Many of us do. But we are unable to drop everything, walk out of school to stand there for an hour. If we did then we would be told we don’t care about the kids. I have talked to a few of my students about this and they understand the teachers’ position and respect this.
I LOVE teaching at AHS, I have taught at a few other schools, all of different soci-economic status, and I would definitely say AHS is where I am most at home. I also want you to know that teachers at Aberdeen care ALOT more than we are given credit for. Many of my fellow teachers and I have put more time in to teaching and supporting our students both in and out of the classroom than most parents and community members acknowledge. Under Mr. Szerensits, teachers have created many opportunities for students to to get the support they need and have even acquired additional transportation for those who need it in order to participate; unfortunately, many of these educational programs are ignored by the students and parents. Programs that are designed to help students prepare for the HSA tests, tutoring by NHS, after-school review sessions for AP tests, study hall for students who are ineligible for activities, as well as the numerous clubs, sports, and organizations that are in the school are all run by the teachers who are labeled as not caring. That doesn’t even include the faculty and staff members who go out of their way to check on students’ progress in their classes and act as mentors to those students. Most of these programs have very little attendance considering the population of the school and the amount of people complaining about Aberdeen teachers.
I don’t know how many times I have informed my students that I would be staying after-school to offer help and nobody shows up or a student will tell me they will be coming for extra help, I wait and the student is a no show.
You can blame teachers all you want for failing grades and test scores or not caring but make sure you are making an accurate statement rather than just an assumption.
I was so glad to read the comments here by the teachers! Specially right now, with the difficulty of what is going on, it’s had to make your job twice as hard. Hopefully comments I made were taken as intended and not as criticism. I would think specially being a teacher at AHS, you have to be careful about what you say or openly expressing how you feel about this situation. Considering any possible repercussions. Even though you have every right and moreso than most to express your opinions.
I have the utmost respect for the leadership and faculty of AHS! I’ve witness both ends of the spectrum. I’m fortunate to have a child that is very self motivated and attends the SMA and the education he is getting is a blessing! But on the other side of that coin, I’ve been in the offices of the counselors and teachers who have been tirelessly willing to go out on a limb for another relative who for all intent purposes is trying to fall through the cracks – and I’ve seen first hand how they (you) have never given up on this student! I’m fairly certain anywhere else, hands would have been thrown up in the air in frustration and that would be the end of it. Not at AHS! You’ve never stopped trying to do what it takes to get this young man through high school! And I know he can’t be the only one there like that.
This kind of support can only come from the top down! That is why Mr Szerensits needs to stay right where he is! If the BOE wants AHS to move in another direction, then provide an outline or guidelines of what that may be and give Mr Szerensits the opportunity to make it happen. I think they’d be hard pressed to find another Principal whose devotion and concern for their school is as strong as his!
You’ve really captured all the essentials in this sbuejct area, haven’t you?
We in the teaching profession are at the mercy of the Superintendent. According to our contracts, we can be moved within the school system at his direction, with no reason necessary. Teachers at AHS are in the unenviable position of not being able to publicly support Mr. Szerensits for fear of attracting the attention of a petty and vindictive Superintendent. To be certain, there are some teachers who would like him to stay and others who would like him to go, but none can show support publicly. When my students ask me my opinion, I very tactfully explain that it isn’t in my best interest career-wise to give my opinion, because if the Superintendent can do this to a principal, what can he do to a mere teacher?
There are other schools where the principal isn’t respected and/or liked by teachers either. How about not respected by students or parents too? Test scores are acceptable by the Superintendents standards so he lefts him stay. When you are dealing with HCPS, the bottom line you need to consider is what do the ADULTS care about? Their standard B.S. that it is about kids is just a line. If you want to figure out what they care about it is test scores, ego, and not much else. Keep up the pressure though. The Superintendent works for the Board of Education and they have can fire him if they really want to.
Mr.S has always been an inspiration to us. He has given children second chances.He was not only a great teacher, mentor and not to mention a wonderful principle.He has a big heart for all the children at Aberdeen High School. The protest yesterday hopefully will change at least SOMEBODY’s mind. Mr. S had over 150 students/fans out ther yesterday. Where are Mr.Tombacks fans? None. Some of us were even seniors…knowing the consequences of leaving the school building.WE STOOD UP FOR WHAT WAS RIGHT.
SAVE MR.SZERENSITS ! ! ! ! ! !
E.A.G.L.E. Pride.
i had him as a teacher….
im so proud of these children for going thru with THIS!!!!
SAVE MR.SZERENSITS ! !
honest truth; it’s not mr. S fault, it’s the worthless and lazy teachers at ABERDEEN. teachers there do not care, whatsoever. I have met with him in person several times, he is genuine, caring and always has had a positive attitude.
it would break my heart if he did leave…
That is an awful thing to say about the people who have dedicated their lives to educating our children. How dare you blame the teachers for parent’s inability to be a part of their children’s education. Go up to a teacher and ask them what is ruining the educational process at Aberdeen High School. I would imagine there would be several answers to include: transient location, to diverse of a student population (2 parent household vs. single parent), and parental involvement to name a few.
No one wants to blame themselves when their little darlings are failures. It is easier to blame the teachers than to except responsibility for what we have done as parents.
Before you condemn the “worthless and lazy teachers” at Aberdeen, take a look in the mirror and take a look around you at the students who are arrogant, disrespectful, and lazy. I cannot tell you how many times I have had students angry with me because I would not help them answer a question ON A TEST. Too many students think that if they feel the rules are stupid then they should not follow them. I have students who think it is ok to plug their cell phone chargers into my wall. I have students who think that because it is their Mom texting them, that makes it ok to text back. I have students who think it is ok to sleep and/or talk to others in class while I am teaching and then expect me to teach them personally what they missed while they were not paying attention.
The truly “lazy” teachers are few and far between. I have found that most students who label teachers this way have problems with teachers who hold them to the fire and refuse to indulge them whenever they want. AHS is in the position they are in primarily because of its students, not because of its principal or its teachers. Eagle PRIDE is not about being proud of your school, it’s about being proud of yourself and not taking the easy way out. Mr. Szerensits could take the easy way out and resign; it is what Dr. Tomback wants him to do. Do you think he would want you to take the easy way out?
I could not have said this any better myself Concerned Teacher. KUDOS!!! I myself am tired of the lazy, arrogant, abnoxious students who think they do not have to listen to any rules and expect special treatment. Who is to blame for that….THE PARENTS!!!!!!
There are ONLY good and great teachers, no bad ones. You can look for them but you will not find them. HCEA has sought out these rumored bad teachers and turned up none, in fact they found more great teachers.
You cannot besmirch teachers ever, never ever since they are the best of the best and rest of us have no idea how hard they work for so little overall compensation.
Just look at the results!
There *are* poor teachers. All of us in the teaching profession know of teachers in their schools who are not good at what they do. However, for you to take shots at all teachers with that smarmy, sarcastic tone generates you absolutely no sympathy. You COULD NOT do what we do. I can guarantee that based solely on the content of those four sentences you wrote, one of which was a run-on sentence and two of which had punctuation and grammatical errors.
If a person with high blood pressure doesn’t exercise, doesn’t change his diet, and then has a heart attack, do you blame the doctor? When a person commits a crime, then lies on the witness stand in the face of evidence against him, do you blame the lawyer when he is convicted? A teacher can only do so much when faced with students who do not care about the rules, their education, or their future because they as teenagers already believe they know everything they need to know in life.
So, when GM builds a lousy car, they should blame the product?
I could have sworn there were reasons why they are called “teachers” and not information providers.
Did the car have any input into its being built? No. That’s one of the weakest arguments I have ever heard. A teacher can only teach someone who is willing to learn. When we do everything in our power to help Johnny learn, but all Johnny wants to do is text his friends while listening to his iPod, then Johnny will not learn.
That’s classic. A teacher can’t develop the respect that’s required and the discipline needed to be effective and it’s the pupils who are solely to blame. That’s been the tired argument for failed teachers since the one room schoolhouse. Yet, throughout time there are those who get it done, usually without complaining and certainly without a need to rationalize their existence.
Fortunately, my children had more than their fair share of those teachers and the results speak for themselves.
@ ROBJAM
I would suggest that your children and most probably the vast majority of other students in their classes had been taught respect, had significant parental support, and a willingness by those parents to ensure their children behaved and paid attention to their school work. Unfortunately there are many students and parents that do not have the same priorities. In my day if you acted like an ass in school a teacher could grab you by the collar and talk some sense into you. Also those that could or would not do what was expected of them chose to leave school or were given the boot by school systems that did not have the federal government and lawyers threatening teachers with lawsuits. I’ve have been one of those bad-ass teachers with some of my students because I know they need it, but each time I realize that I put myself at risk in doing so. But there are some students even I cannot get to control themselves and the administration is too afraid to support teachers in issues of students continually disrupting class. So it isn’t that teachers do not want to many times it is that teachers can’t because of factors beyond their control. My suggestion is that if society wants the school system to raise their kids so they can keep themselves blameless when their kids turns out to be a complete looser then give us the power to REALLY discipline students. There are enough of us still around willing to take care of business we could straighten out our schools and most of the disruptive students.
I guess I’m confused. Multiple posts here by teachers explaining why they are less than successful in their professions due to factors beyond their control. If you believe you’re trying to sell snowballs to eskimos, then why not do something else? We spend at least a quarter of our adult life at work (most professions require more); if you’re not satisfied, and really believe it’s not your fault, then leave. There’s a whole world out there and talent is always in short supply.
Or is it something else?
@ROBJAM,
No one said we were not satisfied. Most students are a pleasure to teach and work with. There are those however that make it hard to give your best to the majority because of behavior problems or chasing after those that will not do their part to achieve an education that gives them a chance to be productive citizens and not burdens on those of us that are successful and pay taxes. I’ve been in the business world and the adage that management spends 80% of their time dealing with 20% of their employees is not different in the classroom. Depending on where you teach that percentage can be much higher. The difference is that in the real world you can fire your troubled employees (students). We can’t do that so we a stuck with trying to minimize the negative impact these less interested students have on those who demonstrate a desire for an education.
Maybe you’ve hit on something – they’re not the employees you are. We collectively hire you to provide services to them.
If we were successful with 80%, we’d be setting the standards for the world.
No need to continue this further. It’s obvious you’re well engaged, so there’s a certain preaching to the choir element about all of this. Thanks for your responese.
Hooray to everyone who believes in this cause and is speaking up/out. People should not be so judgemental of the teachers who didn’t walk off the job to go protest out front of Aberdeen High School. Some have stated that they have written letters. They do have aa responsibility to be inside the school, performing their job(s). Again, kudos to one and all that have spoken out about a cause they believe in.
A couple of years ago I was required to sign off on a booklet of ‘rules’ from Harford County Public Schools….one of which was pretty specific about not being allowed to speak negatively about the school system or the superintendent. So sorry for how it appears but I cannot risk my family’s financial security to openly challenge the superintendent.
Many do not know that teachers…during the day and at any time they are speaking as reps of the system or in the role of teacher… are not protected by the First Amendment and can lose their jobs for speaking personal opinions. We are hired to tow the company line…written by the Superintendent and the BOE.
We can speak as private citizens, but only if we do so on our own time, and do not affiliate ourselves with the system or our title of teacher. In that case, we are protected. It’s complicated though, so most play it safe.
I kid you not… And it’s fairly clear, right up through the Supreme Court, that teachers can be fired for speaking out of turn.
We rely on the community and our BOE to ensure a system of checks and balances. Don’t take the silence of teachers to mean we agree or disagree with decisions.
The teachers do care about students. Every teacher I have had in my life has cared about everyone in class. Some they care about more then others, but that is just based on how easy and hard it it to work with different people. Also, being a teacher is a job in the REAL WORLD meaning that going against their boss, means they can be fired. While, students can’t be fired, so they can do whatever they want and basically get away with it.
How about boycotting this year’s graduation. It is after school and therefor extracurricular. If teachers, cops, bus drivers, sanitation workers, et al can have a blue flu day, why can’t the parents and their parents. Make May 31st a day to remember, let’s all go somewhere else and say good by to each other.
alot of the students did it to skip school as evident by the number of students that ran into the woods surrounding the school when Mr. S asked them to come into the school. support? yeah sure.