The diversity of CHS faculty opinions was highlighted last Thursday when a dispute blossomed over the removal of a flyer announcing an informational meeting about the military and draft.

According to Principal Mr. Rick Spears, CHS is a microcosm of this country and the differences between teachers are highlighted in times of election, inauguration, and especially war.

Teacher and Activities Director Mr.Edward Norton demonstrated this difference Thursday Jan 20 with the removal of a sign, written by Mr. Steve Rigney, Amensty International advisor, that read “Are you curious about options to avoid service?” The flyer advertised an appearance of a guest speaker discussing conscientious objection status. According to Mr. Rigney the meeting was requested by Vice-principal, Ms Judy Hartman following parent concerns.

According to Mr. Norton, he had taken down the sign and brought it to Mr. Spears in order to have a “philosophical discussion.” This action sparked the disapproval of many teachers who claimed his objection to the sign and its removal was a violation of First Amendment rights. “My line was crossed,” said Mr. Steve Trombetta, who took offense from the free speech perspective.

Mr. Norton, who is a strong representative of conservative politics, admits to having instigated the entire conflict by the removal of the sign. He says that his strong approval of the military has foundations in his experience in the Vietnam War, and his daughter’s recent activation in Germany as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot. He believes that it is this underlying political division between the two factions that has caused the severity of this controversy and disapproves strongly with how far it has escalated.

Mr. Rigney, who sponsored this event, disagrees with Mr. Norton’s objection, saying that it is in the state standards that schools should teach students about alternatives to military service.

The controversy heated to the point where Mr. John Deaderick, drama, wrote a letter to Mr. Spears suggesting resignation on Mr. Norton’s part as Activities Director.

The issue also sparked many debates between, what Mr. Spears and Mr. Norton claim is the two separate political factions on our campus. Mr. Steve Robinson, history, Mr. Trombetta, and Mr. Deaderick (who are all strong representatives of more liberal politics) debated with other members of the staff who support a more conservative agenda .

However, all who objected to Mr. Norton’s removal of the sign claim that politics have nothing to do with the issue and this issue involves a violation of First Amendment rights.

“I don’t think faculty members have the right to individually remove information they find objectionable,” said Mr. Deaderick, adding later, “It’s critically important that we recognize that diversity is what America is all about.” He, and many others involved, think that teachers should be able to put aside their political differences and help to create an environment where students can express their opinions in order to evoke thought in others.

Mr. Robinson, who often teaches the value of free speech in his history classes, says he is “interested from (this) free speech perspective.” He desires more student involvement and strongly believes, “Too much free speech is better than apathy.”

Mr. Trombetta went further, adding, “Teachers don’t have the right to take anything down that they disagree with.” In his objection to this situation, Mr. Trombetta took down a two posters, one advertising the blood drive and the other the Winter Ball as a demonstration of his opinion that anybody could find objectionable material in any poster on campus.

Mr. Trombetta, in order to address the situation, called for a faculty meeting Wednesday Jan 26. However, he asked for a delay because he felt that the teachers were not ready to discuss the issue. Instead the department chairs met later that week and held another faculty meeting where it was briefly discussed among other issues on Wednesday Feb 9.

Many teachers agreed that direct involvement and discussions of problems with signs in the future is needed. Mr. Norton agreed saying that nobody had come to him to discuss this issue, instead they choose to talk to Mr. Spears.

Mr. Rigney also agreed, saying that nobody had come to him about the objection they had with the wording of the flyer.

The faculty also agrees that the problem is in no way related with the CHS sign policy, which Mr. Spears deems unrealistic.

According to Mr. Spears, the sign policy states that the Activities Director must approve all signs. Mr. Spears says that the amount of signs that go up and the, often last minute, haste with which they are placed make Mr. Norton’s job impossible. He admits: “We’ve had some slippage.” Many members of clubs agree as one anonymous member said his policy was “Put up a sign and nobody cares.”

Mr. Trombetta agrees saying that the only material that should be taken down is material announcing questionable events (such as non-school sponsored parties) and slander that could hurt teachers or students.

Despite the discomfort the situation has caused, many teachers see it as a learning experience. “I think we can grow (from this).” Said Mr. Trombetta, adding that he thought everyone, including Mr. Spears had learned a lot from these events. He also said, “There are a million little issues that come up,” yet the faculty members have been able to work through them before.

Mr. Spears concurred saying, “When problems have come up we’ve been able to solve them.”

Mr. Spears remains optimistic on this situation, saying, “I think our staff works well together and they’re all good people. Hopefully we can sort this out.”