NHUHSD Superintendent Responds to M&M Incident
Superintendent Roger Macdonald of the Northern Humboldt Union High School District wrote a letter yesterday in response to anger over Halloween costumes worn by his staff in combination with a Facebook post by a member of his staff. The post referenced a statement made by a student at a board meeting earlier in the month.
Below is the letter provided to us by Mr. Macdonald.
Good Afternoon Northern Humboldt Union High School District Community,
At the October 9, 2019 Board meeting, a strong, courageous student addressed the Board on a subject of importance to her. I know what bravery it takes for a youth to go to that podium, look at all the adults on the dias, gather herself, and speak her truth to the room. She was participating in school governance, and I know the Board and I are always proud to see such conduct. While she was speaking, she noted that some Board members and staff were eating M&Ms, implying that the student speaker was entertainment, and the student called out these adults’ behavior by saying it was “as if they were at the cinema.” The district staff meant no disrespect to the student by their actions, but unconsciously conveyed to the student that she was not getting the attention that she was due.
Which brings me to a recent incident that has caused pain to this student and others who felt disrespected by our staff due to a related act of obliviousness. On Halloween, some of our District Office staff, including me, chose to wear M&M T-shirts as our office costume. It seemed like an easy outfit to join the Halloween spirit. We took a group picture after work. The October 9th Board meeting was the furthest thing from my mind when we chose to wear these shirts. This illustrates how when we are not thinking of matters from every perspective, we can make mistakes. This was one such mistake with significant consequences to our communities’ trust in our good intentions.
Then, it was compounded by a social media post. After work, one of our staff posted on a private Facebook account a photo of us, and a reference to what the student said at the Board meeting, i.e. that we were all “just sitting here at the cinema.” I do not believe the intent was to mock this student. I certainly heard no such mockery while I was at work. But intent and effect are two different things. Since Friday, the Facebook post has spread like wildfire throughout our community. I understand the widespread public criticism and apologize to all who were or are offended by the District staff’s actions, including my own. I wish I had recognized the poor choice of that costume given its proper context, and I failed to do that. The staff member’s choice to quote the student in a private post was also not a good choice.
I wish the only impression that was left from this incident was admiration for what a brave student we had in this speaker, who spoke her mind at the Board meeting and, later, to me about this incident in an email. The student in question does not deserve any negative attention that this incident and the subsequent conversations across our District and social media have caused. I have spoken with her family several times and look forward to the opportunity to apologize in person.
I and my staff send our sincerest apologies to the student and express our deepest regret for this incident.
Roger
Update: M&M Incident Prompts Some Teachers and Employees at NHUHSD to Wear Black in Support of Students
Earlier Chapters:
- Halloween Costumes and a Facebook Post Upset NHUHSD Community
- Student Whose Remarks Are Believed to Have Been the Focus of Controversial Facebook Post Writes Letter to NHUHSD Superintendent
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Well, it’s all just a big joke, anyway…
Circumspection, responsible behavior, common sense, and:
Never ever assume…
Shame on all of you. Rationalizing hardly serves as apology.
What apology was needed. She called them out in a public meeting and she was surprised they responded in a funny manner, no bullying, or bullied. She tried to shame them and it didn’t work. They didn’t call her out directly like she did, so I think it’s pathetic all you all are upset
Which color m&m shirt were you wearing?
Black
here here
Actually it often is. It depends on whether the recipient of the apology wants the giver to understand what they did was wrong so it doesn’t happen again or the recipient’s goal is to force the giver into groveling in order to establish their place in the dominance pecking order. Most people never recognize first and dearly love the second.
I’m sure that actual M and M’s will “off the table” at the next public meeting. Most public meetings just have a glass of water, and hopefully that the board will at least feign the look of attentiveness at the next meeting.
Pathetic.
The green ones will make you horny.
.
How insensitive to say that the Facebook post “spread like wildfire”. Doesn’t he know what a serious affect wildfires have had and are haveing on our state. I demand an apology, and a safe space, and counseling, whilst I get un-triggered.
Best response ever Country Bumpkin. Political correctness is a dangerous thing and people who are so oversensitive are going to have a difficult time in life. Every comment or action can be taken the wrong way.
Get a life [edit] Why not argue about actual issues. This is first grade bs. This is why trump will be elected. Imagine being some white hick war veteran with one arm in the middle of the country and hearing children argue about stuff like this.
Yes. It is why Trump was elected. In order to stop the Crusaders of the Order of the Holier-than-Thou from destroying everything in the name of Self Righteousness.
this story is the saddest thing ive ever seen. i had to read it twice to figure out what the ‘problem’ was. in case everybody forgot there are actual problems in this world. this isnt worth the time it took read.
Thank You for your sincere and thoughtful response. It’s important to address this kind of incident and plant seeds of change. I applaud you and hope your staff follows your lead.
Millennial work boots.
C’mon, My kids are millennial. They cut wood, harvest grapes, etc. Let’s move beyond lumping folks together.
I’m sure then they are real enough to find this a bit funny.
My kids wouldn’t ever wear anything like that and neither would their friends. As joke, it slipped by me. Maybe it was a little flat.
I think they missed a teaching moment. They could of showed the respect everyone deserves no matter their age. They could of even spent time after the meeting to find out the problem or concern.Instead they showed that they were not listening to anything except the part they felt was insulting. I would say the student hit a nerve because the truth hurts.
First off, is it me or is that letter written in 3rd grade English? The flow, the punctuation, the misspelled words, the syntax etc. ?? Does no one proofread anymore? The casual nature and inattentive style of what should be a very important letter speaks volumes. Those were lousy excuses cloaked as explanations and disguised with flattery. UNACCEPTABLE
If he wants to set an example for the “youths” then do what’s right for a change and resign.
Hey whoa ! Did you just mock the superintendent for the letter he wrote ?!?!? He might have a nervous breakdown and retaliate against you !!!!
For Christ’s sake!!
How dare you assume Roger’s gender and cyber-bully it/they/them with such blatant public use of the non gender neutral pronoun “he”. I am deeply offended and demand that you do what’s right for a change and resign immediately from further commenting on RHBB.
Me – 10 points
Duh – zero
Roger is a male name, yes?
So where does “He” is non-gender” come in? And, all the males i know, past, present and future, are a “he”.
What is this world coming to?
That’s a very temperate response fire them. Originally embraced by outraged villagers when rooting out witches.
Absolutely gobsmacking, Xhumboldter and dang, that you miss the obvious. Xhumboldter, you’re essentially saying that a child who has been mocked and abused by adults that taxpayers employ to educate and supervise them should just get over such shameful abuse of their power. And dang, it’s a case in point of what’s wrong with the world. And then the clueless superintendant tries to pretend that they didn’t intend to further the issue or understand that they were exacerbating thd problem. From ol’ Roger on down, this whole superintendent and staff should be fired.
WELL Said indeed!!!
That is totally incorrect. What so many are saying is that such a minor issue has been blown up to ridiculous rhetoric. For one thing it is not in the realm of possibility that a school empoyee can be fired as a result of this, for which many teachers rely on for their own invincibility. Many people are shocked at the level of hatred center in the name of a very, very, very minor issue. Good Lord, how do so many commenters survive an ordinary work day in the real world if they think this is a big deal.
You hit the nail on the head, You are probably right that they can’t be fired that is why they act so superior and don’t have to pay attention if they don’t want. They work for the people and the students that is who pays their wages.
Seriously? This is what you have to say? You actually think people believe you when you say you wore those costumes innocently? Are you that daft? Someone in your position should have much better critical thinking skills. Where are the consequences? To me, and I am sure a lot of others, this is a fireable offense. Is the lesson really learned if there are no consequences? I think not.
Adults who poke fun at children should never be employed to educate or administrate education to children. PERIOD. Superintendent Roger Macdonald should step down and go work at WallMart.
Have you spent much time with school administrators? The most petty group of know-it-alls you will ever meet.
Frederick Douglass — ‘Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.
Well said.
No I haven’t. I have however much more contact with teachers than is healthy for any adult. A magic combination of utter self assurance and freedom from serious personal questioning , created by years in protected employment, exerting authority over those without power, simultaneously dealing with bureaucratic minutiae, left way too many teachers constitutionally unable to take contradiction from anyone. Except for those blessed kindergarten teachers who were always upbeat and interested in listening. My guess is that they were less into control and more into coping, which made talking to them a joy.
Not all kindergarten teachers are like that my sister who taught for Eureka City School was terrible and depended on my folks and their friends to keep her job in the good old boys club in Eureka City Schools.
Balderdash. You can harass a school employee out of their job by unrelenting idiocy but they certainly would win their case in front of any employee rights board in the US. Teachers do routinely for very egregious conduct all the time. Do none of you work in human resources?
The thing is this is a reaction to save his ass. never is a apology from an adult made in public such as this anything but a pathetic attempt to keep their job. to get everyone in a office to wear the samething takes planning. planning that shows intent. these folks are mocking this young adult, even with their public statements. Roger is mocking our intelligence in thinking this complete bullshit responce is heartfelt or that he has any true feelings of remorse for his actions other than for the trouble he is in. This young adult has shown more maturity and respect than this entire lot of professionals. She has a great future ahead of her.
Agreed on ALL Points!!!
M&Mgate! Impeach the Superintendent! This reporter has the inside story! It’s chocolate!
~i third.
There is no “ her truth “ or “ my truth “ there is only THE TRUTH. My god people are insane
Objective truth/facts are part of the patriarchy, haven’t you heard?
~i get your drift. For clarification, may i add:
Facts are not truth. Facts are an event. The default; a car crunch happens at a busy intersection. Some one is standing on each corner. What each one witnessed will be their facts of the event, but may not match any of the other three people’s statements of fact.
Truth is universal. Constant. And cannot be destroyed.
Strange…When I was growing up, I was taught that a fact was once a Hypothesis that has been PROVEN to be true, which is why I always think it to be redundant when someone says “a proven fact.”
Witness statements are their interpretation of events, but aren’t considered factual until someone else analyzes them and decides a better narrative doesn’t exist.
Now, truth, that’s based on a particular person’s objectivity and perspective, and is sometimes entirely different from someone else’s truth. So, yes, I do believe it’s possible to convince someone to change their mind, thereby changing their truth and blowing your argumentative statements right out of the water.
Never. And I say never! Question a liberal. If you disagree, mock, yell, or show any means of aggressiveness, truth or sarcasm you will be hailed a nazi capitalist racist pig. Let them whine or they will exercise the only right they treasure . The right to protest. This is news nowadays. Local and national news. Don’t worry, all this will change when A Democrat takes office. There will be unity through out the world and no one will go hungry. Free MnMs for everyone!
#socialismisslavery.
Sigh…never admit you’re a liberal to some folks or they’ll decide they know everything about you [She says while gently poking fun at a conservative that she admires]
Same goes for conservatives too. I mean I’m obviously a guy that hates brown people ( half my family ) and think Jesus is coming down from heaven to judge us all….
We all need to lighten up on the deciding we know everything about a person from just one piece of the puzzle.
In truth, whether it’s the Duck Test (” When I see a bird that walks like a duck and swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, I call that bird a duck”) – or the Elephant Test (I can’t describe an elephant, but I know one if I see one.), the probablities are with you for success if you know that the important attributes of a duck are almost surely not the important attributes of an elephant. You may not know everything about either animal but you know enough to take shelter when an elephant comes at you and continue on your way when a duck shows up.
Does there live a liberal who says “I think I am right but I think that it is wrong to use the power of government to force you to act right?” Does there exist a conservative who thinks says “I am right but I think it is wrong not to agree to changing just to be agreeable?” In other words, the labels may not tell you everything but they tell you enough.
Love it kym! So true!
Division mentality is not the path to freedom. I MEAN, seriously, how does this aid our ailing society? I’ll go the “We Are The 99%” division.
I know most of the folks involved in this situation and can say without doubt that they would never have dressed like this or taken the photo if they thought it would be taken as an insult to a student. Please take this for what it was, just folks laughing at themselves for being called out for eating M&M’s while at a Board Meeting. Nothing more here. Move on folks
Tom, you know most of them? Good for you. Now don’t make excuses for their immature, unprofessional, irresponsible, bullying behavior. Fire them all!
If you going to fire people for being bullies then fire all the Democrats in California
C’mon, lumping folks together isn’t helpful. We can do better than that. If you want to blame Democrats for specific policies, that’s fair. But to characterize every Democrat as a bully is unreasonable. The same as it is unreasonable to call every Republican a bully.
I agree with you Kim but when it’s a skunk you don’t call it. Cat
Not strictly related to the candy situation but there actually are times when a skunk is called “cat”. Western spotted skunks are also named “civet cats”. Not felines of course but they do fit into the civet CATegory. Just a fun fact. Not as fun was my encounter with this animal.
Tom Thumb
Id call b.s.on that 100%
Most people arent really blind idiots.
Is this a joke? People got their panties in a knot over this? Where is Humboldt’s sense of humor? It’s about eating candy during a board meeting and a student commented on it and so they dressed like candy for Halloween. OMG, lives should be ruined over this..lol
Did somebody get their feelings hurt? Quick call the feelings police, I’m surprised no one told the kid to shut up and sit down after that M&M comment, when i was in school those comments were considered disrespectful and rude, and weren’t tolerated, and we wonder way this world is like it is, no respect today, zero, just hurt feelings
She mocked the school board for eating m&ms yet is outraged that she was mocked in turn . Life lessons
Life lessons for sure. Fire them all.
She did not mock. She pointed out their inconsideration for the discussion at had. Then they mocked her.
mock·ing
/ˈmäkiNG/
Learn to pronounce
adjective
making fun of someone or something in a cruel way; derisive.
“the mocking hostility in his voice made her wince”
She was mildly rude and defensive. They were mildly rude and defensive back. There is an argument that the Superintendent should been more restrained as an adult but in the end it’s a tempest in a teapot that only social media (well this site too) could get so riled up over. The reactions are embarassingly over blown and misdirected.
maybe the super is not an adult after all. ever think of dat?
BAZINGA !
She didn’t mock anyone. She observed that the professional staff weren’t paying respectful attention. The professional staff doubled down by wearing their costumes. One staffer doubled yet again by posting photos with a comment that made their contempt clear. Then the superintendent tried to lie his way out of it. The original incident was relatively minor. The following reactions and comments are getting to the point of firing or at least suspension level offenses.
Perhaps, some would like to tell YOU, to sit down & STFU??? Likely No One want to hear it!!!
But that is the routine response of so many commenters on this site . Many can apparently only do that. They call it a right to their own opinion.
Oh that hyperbolic emotionalism could be effectively reasoned away at least but reason is not effective in cases of emotional outrage. Even the attempt invites a more extreme hyperbole. Social media has given permission to the hateful to drop any pretense of politeness in favor of letting their inner ogre runs free. If it could only show the contorted face, the spittal flying, the fist clenching that would accompany such words in real life, maybe more people would check themselves rather than appear so pathetically out of control.
Sir, you are either a liar or an imbecile. In either case, unfit for your current job. RESIGN
I Completely agree!!!
Yet just a couple of posts ago, you pointed out “Perhaps, some would like to tell YOU, to sit down & STFU??? Likely No One want to hear it!!!” I would guess that would apply here too. What extremes would you have to go if there had been a worse issue when you have already been so extreme? Which would cover about any issue that could possibly happen.
DILLIGAFF
I call BS
(On the superintendent)
So they mock a student, then they offer lies instead of analogy? Pretty obvious where that increase pay for teacher should come from.
Labor is the only true source of currency . . . so, that would be you and me and us and We, the People.
Another bond measure? A superintendent makes less than 10% more than a principle who makes less than 10% more than an assistant principle who makes less than 10% more than a department head who makes less than 10% more than the average teacher who makes about 45% more than the median wage in Humboldt Co. This is hardly a matter of grave injustice. Maybe the real issue is that there are too many levels of promotion without a corresponding need for it.
Surely creative incompetence offers as great a challenge as the traditional drive for higher rank.
Hey Roger – there’s no such thing as a “private” Facebook post!
a sad day in m&m land
Everyone needs to put their big boy pants on and stop being so easily offended. This whole incident is wasting valuable electrons that could be used elsewhere on the internet.
Amen and Hellelujah!
~other than the subject of this thread, i do like the bantering.
Eating anything at a public meeting is just freaking ig-nint. Making excuses for moronic behavior after the fact is even more ig-nint.
No one has made excuses. They have just said that the issue is way too small for all the paroxysm of rhetoric going on here. Do you realize you are saying to fire a whole lot of people for being insensitive one time? Can you really think that is balanced?
Fire them all. There is no room for balance when you are tasked with educating children. Either you have the right attitude or you don’t. These adults chose to behave like assholes, the should get what is coming to them – unemployment.
[edit]
It was simply too soon for an M & M costume to appear so close to “home” after the board meeting. Just admit it was done in poor taste and move on. Don’t “candy coat” what your decision to wear those shirts did not reflect.
This is a joke of a statement. The facebook post was OBVIOUSLY written to poke fun at a teens very serious appeal to be heard. They should be ashamed AND should take FULL responsibility for their actions. They are our children’s role models. They need to OWN what THEY did.
Jamster you are wrong. Teacher are to lead by example. Role models are people who someone else looks up too and respects there input or want to be like .Teachers can not reach all kids, it’s up to the parents to teach them to be respectful of teaching authority. When someone calls someone else out They should be prepared for the cause and effect of there actions. Should it be said, should it be said by me, should it be said by me now.
https://arcdigital.media/outrage-is-currently-americas-deepest-core-value-it-shouldn-t-be-db777f41d208
“Chamath Palihapitiya, one of Facebook’s earliest hires, now considers social media websites “short-term dopamine-driven feedback loops that…are destroying how society works.” “
Come on all you snowflakes!!! You all get offended so easily. However for you to offend others is ok in your snowflake minds. Get over it and move on.
Superintendent Roger MacDonald
[email protected]
Sending him a gift certificate for M&Ms.
If this is the level of “education” being provided for the future of the nation we are all doomed. The ” brave” student is a privileged and clueless idiot. Education is being wasted on her. Suck it up snowflake.
Don’t forget the prerequisite for being an administrator: you have to be an IDIOT!