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As a former Greenwich resident and town employee (not of the Board of Education), I have my own feelings about the Jeremy Boland tape produced by Project Veritas. Like you, I believe any suspicions the tape was edited are secondary.
I do not know Mr. Boland and I have no children in the Cos Cob School or the Greenwich Public School System. In fact, I no longer reside in Connecticut, let alone Greenwich, but I like to keep an eye on the place where I lived, worked, and raised my children.
Mr. Boland’s comments seem to be his own, delivered during relaxed conversations at what looks like at least one public location and on different dates. At no time did he hesitate to provide answers as one might expect if he felt he was being “set up”. To the contrary, his demeanor was such that he was apparently at ease, comfortable and truthful.
The officially released tape looks to be a record of at least two meetings which suggests Mr. Boland felt he could be open with whomever he was speaking. That is a tribute to that individual as she obviously was able to convince Mr. Boland to relax and speak his mind on more than one occasion. To presume that it is the result of creative editing is to ignore the elephant in the room.
Worse yet is the fact that Mr. Boland is an Assistant Principal and as such is in a leadership position, expected to provide guidance to those under his supervision. Given his own comments, questions about his fairness and objectivity must be addressed. Obviously, this incident has the potential to expose the Town of Greenwich and/or the Board of Education to possible legal actions.
Just as obviously, and perhaps more importantly, this is a blemish on an otherwise highly respected school system. Still, because there is no evidence that Mr. Boland’s comments are anything other than his own, people would be well advised to avoid knee-jerk reactions.
Yes, it might be true that there may be those in the school system who share Mr. Boland’s beliefs, but it is entirely possible they are a minority. It is just as possible that these thoughts are as repugnant to the mainstream of educators as to those of us who have expressed concern about them.
I am willing to wait for the outcome of any official investigation, but along those lines, we must be prepared for this to be determined to be a personnel matter and therefore confidential. That is typically the result of similar situations.
The questions about whether Project Veritas recorded Mr. Boland’s comments in a surreptitious manner are immaterial – he said what he said, and it remains a matter of accountability, his, yes, but also that of the Board of Education and the Town of Greenwich.
Frank Branca
Murrells Inlet, SC