Essay causes conflict at N.B. elementary school

Essay causes conflict at N.B. elementary school

MARIE ORTIZ Debbie DeHaven, at home in North Brunswick with her husband, Douglas DeHaven, and son, Vincent Paul, talks about her son’s essay.

Parent takes her

complaint to the Board

of Education

By alison granito

Staff Writer

NORTH BRUNSWICK — Debbie DeHaven feels that an assignment her son was given at school has unnecessarily intruded into her home.

In addition to complaining to her son’s teacher, school principal, and the superintendent’s office, she raised the issue at a recent Township Council meeting and at Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting.

According to Mrs. DeHaven, when her son began the fourth grade at Parsons Elementary School this year, he was assigned an essay about his summer vacation to be displayed in the hallway.

Vincent Paul, 9, wrote what came naturally to him about his summer, said his mother.

"Unfortunately, his father having cancer blocked out the rest of his summer," said Mrs. DeHaven.

His father, Douglas DeHaven, was diagnosed with colon cancer and underwent surgery and chemotherapy over the summer.

Mrs. DeHaven said that she and her husband worked hard with Vincent Paul to allow him to express his feelings about his father’s illness.

Mrs. DeHaven said Vincent Paul was finally comfortable talking about how the difficult experiences he had over the summer made him feel when he returned to school.

"I was really hoping he could go back and play with his friends and try to get back to normal," she said.

However, on the second day of school, Vincent Paul wrote in detail about his father’s diagnosis, treatment, and the death of a family friend from cancer.

According to Mrs. DeHaven, Vincent Paul’s teacher asked him to change his essay to focus on more positive things that happened to him over the summer.

The teacher then worked with him to develop an essay which matched the assignment according to Parsons Principal Bruce Rothenberg.

The revised version is what hung in the hallway with the rest of the students’ work.

Mrs. DeHaven said that her son took to heart the suggestion of the teacher that he change something he worked so hard on.

"We worked so hard with him to be able to discuss his father. When they did this they made him feel like he did something wrong by talking about what happened to him this summer," she said.

Vincent Paul’s teacher said that she absolutely did not ask him to change his essay because of the content.

According to the teacher, Vincent Paul did not follow the structural requirements of the assignment, which were an introductory sentence, a body containing three experiences the child had over the summer, and a concluding sentence.

The teacher added that she was impressed by the original essay and found it very moving.

Rothenberg said that every attempt has been made to accommodate both Mrs. DeHaven and her son, including transferring Vincent Paul to another classroom and several meetings with the child and the principal to explain that nothing he did was wrong.

According to Rothenberg, Vincent Paul’s original essay is under consideration for the school literary magazine.

Mrs. DeHaven said that she had not been informed of this possibility.

"As a mother I would be even more proud to see that essay in the literary magazine than hanging in the hallway," she said.

According to Mrs. DeHaven, she originally wanted an apology and a meeting with Rothenberg, the teacher, and her son so they could explain to him that he did nothing wrong.

Rothenberg said that he has met with Mrs. DeHaven on several occasions and has offered to schedule another meeting with the school guidance counselor. The teacher was reluctant to agree to a meeting because Mrs. DeHaven has treated her in an abusive manner, according to Rothenberg.

At the Board of Education meeting, Acting Superintendent Bob Turco said the teacher has since agreed to meet with Mrs. DeHaven and her son.

Turco described the teacher in question as "excellent."

Mrs. DeHaven said an apology is no longer enough. She said at the meeting that schools should consider taking such essays out of the curriculum.

"If they want to come into my home and ask my child about his summer, then they better be prepared for the answer," said Mrs. DeHaven.