A BPS spokesman confirms that Boston Latin School Headmaster Lynne Mooney Teta is resigning after a year filled with tumult over the racial climate at the school that led to an ongoing probe by the US Attorney's office.
What follows is the letter she sent to the BLS community today:
June 21, 2016
Dear Boston Latin School Community:
After considerable reflection, I have made the decision to step down as the head master of Boston Latin School effective the end of this school year. This has been a very difficult decision, but one which I believe is in the best interest of our students, faculty and our historic institution. I believe that it is time for a new head master to lead the school and carry on the tradition of excellence.
While I am saddened to leave Boston Latin School -- the school from which I graduated in 1986 and which first inspired me to become an educator -- I believe that our mission remains steadfast. Boston Latin School has and will continue to provide an unparalleled contemporary classical education to our students so that they may pursue successful college studies, become responsible and engaged citizens, and enjoy a rewarding life.
We have faced challenges this year, and I have been greatly encouraged by the commitment of students, faculty, families and alumni to work together to collaboratively address issues of racism and discrimination in our community.
Over the nine years of my tenure as head master, we have built the foundation to create a more welcoming and inclusive school environment. There is still more work that needs to be done. However, I am confident that the school community is moving in the right direction, and will continue to advance the progress that has been made.
I would like to express my gratitude to Superintendent Tommy Chang for all of his support. I am also thankful for all of the students, families, faculty, alumni and colleagues who have contributed in positive ways to the evolution of our school into a nationally recognized model of exemplary urban education.
Sumus Primi!
LMT
School Superintendent Tommy Chang sent the following:
Dear Boston School Committee Members:
Today, I accepted the resignation of Lynne Mooney Teta, effective at the end of this school year. I want to thank Dr. Teta for her tremendous dedication to Boston Latin School and the Boston Public Schools. We at BPS celebrate her legacy of carrying on the BLS tradition of being a national model of the very best in public education, and further increasing the academic rigor of this great institution, the country’s oldest public school.
During her nine years as head master, BLS significantly expanded access to Advanced Placement courses, increasing participation by 50 percent (from 645 students to more than 1,000 sitting for exams) while also raising passing rates from 80 percent to a nationally recognized 90 percent. Through the school’s commitment to the districtwide Exam School Initiative, the percentage of BPS students earning admission to BLS has also climbed from 35 percent to 62 percent. Meanwhile, this year’s graduating class of 411 students has gained admission to the most selective colleges around the country and abroad, and earned more than $25 million in scholarships. Twenty-eight students will be joining the class of 2020 at Harvard College, more than any other secondary school in the world. In recent months, several students bravely shined a light on the issue of cultural proficiency at BLS, illuminating a problem that exists not only at this school but across our city and country. Under Lynne’s guidance, BLS faculty worked with student leaders to develop a comprehensive plan to create a more welcoming and inviting environment for all students. These efforts must continue, but I feel confident that the steps taken have firmly put BLS on a path of continued growth.
As we look to conduct a national search for the next Boston Latin head master, I want to urge the BLS community to come together and support the transitional leadership team. Boston Latin School represents an educational experience that is unrivaled among public and private schools, and we are committed to ensuring that its tradition of excellence continues to thrive.
Sincerely,
Tommy Chang
Superintendent
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Comments
The real point is ...
By adamg
Wed, 06/22/2016 - 3:42pm
Somebody is dredging up stuff that has absolutely nothing to do with Boston to try to make a point about Boston. Yes, I'm pretty parochial sometimes. I'm sure there are many fine sites on which to discuss Temple University, but this normally wouldn't be one of them.
I disagree, Adam
By Michael Kerpan
Wed, 06/22/2016 - 4:06pm
If one of the BLS students who filed complaints about racism at BLS is actually already filing complaints about racism at the school she has been admitted to (for classes that do not begin until the fall) that does indeed have at least _some_ relevance to the BLS controversy.
However, I don't see any proof of this claim being offered (and find none by Googling).
It is an injustice
By anon
Tue, 06/21/2016 - 5:27pm
For BLSs future student, this may very well be the bigenning of the end of Bostons best public school.
What's to follow will be ugly.
Goodbye
By anon
Wed, 06/22/2016 - 10:43am
Latin. Hello English 2.0. We all have a pretty good idea about the replacement headmaster, and it's only a matter of time before exams are done away with and we're left with a typical BPS shithole.
The totalitarians won.
By Patricia Roberts
Tue, 06/21/2016 - 5:34pm
I'm guessing they will be invited to be part of the search committee for the next headmaster, too, because the people who will be running the search are such spineless cowards. How very sad.
Disgraceful and Unjust!
By JPMom
Tue, 06/21/2016 - 5:44pm
Dr. Money-Teta did not deserve this treatment or outcome but that did not matter to those who wanted her head and those cowardly politicians who delivered it.
Her name and reputation have been unfairly dragged through the mud. I don't blame her if she couldn't take it any longer and felt stabbed in the back by her "superiors." Money-Teta's "resignation" will solve nothing except maybe some relief for her and some momentary feeling of victory for her vindictive opponents.
This is a terrible loss for BLS and a bad message to the entire BPS community, including the students, about fair treatment. And, don't bother to lecture me about how BLS isn't perfect. As a parent of three graduates and a former GLS student myself, I know that only too well. But, Mooney-Teta was an exemplary Headmaster and leading BLS in the right direction. I wish her Peace and Good Luck and offer my gratitude.
I really hope
By Anon
Tue, 06/21/2016 - 6:27pm
She sues those clowns for defamation and takes every last penny of theirs, just to set an example. She has nothing to lose, now that Jackson and the blmonkeys have buried her under a mile-deep pile of shit.
"blmonkeys"
By SwirlyGrrl
Tue, 06/21/2016 - 9:36pm
Adam, why did you approve this comment?
Maybe just to show us the unfiltered crap
By Sally
Tue, 06/21/2016 - 11:19pm
that he has to deal with? Smdh...
Big surprise
By anon
Tue, 06/21/2016 - 6:24pm
This is why we need an elected School Committee.
We lose
By Joey
Tue, 06/21/2016 - 6:55pm
The City loses a GREAT educator. I can't blame Mooney-Teta for removing herself from a subjective situation involving race, where usually no one comes out unscathed. Good Luck in your future endeavors.
Bumper Sticker's Ready
By anonism
Tue, 06/21/2016 - 8:12pm
BOSTON LATIN SCHOOL
"ERAMUS PRIMI"
Statement by Black at BLS
By adamg
Tue, 06/21/2016 - 11:58pm
Source.
oh yeah
By Sock_Puppet
Wed, 06/22/2016 - 5:20am
the knives in Dr. Mooney Teta's back are completely independent of the blood on our hands.
To be fair, it was mainly outside groups
By Dan Farnkoff
Wed, 06/22/2016 - 9:36am
Who called for Mooney-Teta's removal.
It's not our fault!
By Patricia Roberts
Wed, 06/22/2016 - 7:58am
We have no responsibility for her decision, or this situation! Don't blame us!
Will this alter the fact that blacks are underrepresented there?
By Dan Farnkoff
Wed, 06/22/2016 - 8:53am
I imagine Chang et al will now feel obligated to hire an African American headmaster, who will still preside over a student body that is disproportionately white and Asian. Thanks, Judge Anti-Garrity! Real helpful decision. It's probably time to rethink that one...talk about separate and unequal.
In terms of Teta, principals handle dozens of disciplinary situations every year. Sounds like she effed up on one or two. Doesn't mean she's a racist, or should go to federal prison. If she's looking for powerful racists to Investigate, Ortiz might want to look at the Bristol County DA's office, where an assistant d.a. thinks it's funny to share racist emails and mock rape victims.
Strange that we know next to nothing about the actual perp here, or the parents who raised him to think it was ok to threaten a classmate with lynching. Instead we get a proxy villain and a fake resolution to the situation.
Political response
By Arthur
Wed, 06/22/2016 - 10:10am
If a student actually made these n-word and lynching statements, that's a problem with the student, not the culture of the school.
Just curious, what kind of false allegations could the white students make up about the black students to create this type of racially charged, political reaction?
That wasn't the issue, though
By adamg
Wed, 06/22/2016 - 10:33am
The issue wasn't that one kid did some horrible thing, but that the administration didn't respond to it correctly based on their own guidelines. Or as BPS put it in a report:
The link might also be good for people who are questioning whether the incident happened. BPS and Mooney Teta acknowledged it happened.
Or..
By HV08
Wed, 06/22/2016 - 11:41am
It just didn't happen the way it's been reported in the media. True that no parents were notified, and that's a serious issue. But otherwise, investigated, minor infraction not of the sort reported, minor punishment that fit the issue at hand. But the rest, well, just didn't happen. Of course, once a witch hunt starts, the truth of what happened isn't the issue anymore.
No, no it won't.
By Sock_Puppet
Wed, 06/22/2016 - 10:21am
To alter that fact, you'd have to improve BPS elementary schools.
Too hard. Let's just have another witch hunt.
I'm so glad that I graduated
By anon
Wed, 06/22/2016 - 10:37am
I'm so glad that I graduated from pubic school decades ago! No one was calling anyone the N-word, no one was calling girls bitches, no one was threatening anyone with lynchings... we just didn't act like that. I'm not saying high school was a utopia, but the level of aggression kids display these days toward one another seems to be far worse than anything I've ever witnessed or been subjected to.
Good Lord, just how old are you?
By adamg
Wed, 06/22/2016 - 10:40am
And where did you go to school? Pleasantville?
Working class small town in
By anon
Wed, 06/22/2016 - 11:18am
Working class small town in NH -- I graduated in the late 1980's. The focus was pretty much on academics as the town didn't have enough money to support many school sports or anything else really.
Working class small town in
By Scratchie
Wed, 06/22/2016 - 11:50am
Yeah, well, I'd imagine that nobody was calling each other "n****" if there weren't any black kids in town.
Hahahahahaha
By Sally
Wed, 06/22/2016 - 11:10am
You clearly didn't go to any school in the BPS.
Re: Yeah, those are known as the "good old days" here in Boston
By Angel
Wed, 06/22/2016 - 12:44pm
Back when you could have "separate, but equal" schools. And, talk about pandering. Back then, you could ride the race card all the way to a School Committee seat and eventually a City Council seat. If you were white.
Angel (not verified) on Wed, 06/22/2016 - 12:44pm
By anon
Wed, 06/22/2016 - 4:44pm
Who are you directing your comment to? I didn't see anyone waxing poetic about the "good old days" in Boston.
Re: Those who are in denial
By Angel
Thu, 06/23/2016 - 9:34am
My comments are directed to anyone who denies racism exists.
time, money and energy that could have gone to fixing problems..
By Iresd
Wed, 06/22/2016 - 11:16am
Will now go to finding a new headmaster - what a waste
Possibly impossible request
By adamg
Wed, 06/22/2016 - 5:22pm
But try to keep it civil, even if you have to imagine that the person you're about to hurl invective at is sitting right next to you at a table.
I just deleted a sub-thread that involved some person responding to some other person by calling him "a sorry-ass racist" or words to that effect. I know some of you are blinding white-hot balls of rage right now, but count to 10 or something, maybe?
Re: Of course
By Angel
Thu, 06/23/2016 - 9:32am
What I find interesting is why people are "blinding white-hot balls of rage". Some context. The narrative on race usually goes like this. A person of color brings attention to an issue. One of two responses: A. Nothing or B. An outsized response, which seems to have happened here. And, I forgot C. Some whites buckle down, express doubt the incident(s) ever happened.
But, in the context of Boston and it's ongoing grappling with race only one thing can change this narrative: Stop automatically dismissing racism. It's fine to calibrate your response or call out those who may be fanning the flames on both sides. But, also remember this is all happening on a continuum for people of color who have been in this city for many years.
People bitch about busing, but seem to forget the city was given the opportunity to correct the problem. Instead, there was a doubling down on rhetoric and fear-mongering that some rode into City Hall and even the State House. In the meantime, those of us who have been watching from the 70s onward have seen the same narrative play out over and over again.
You cannot keep dismissing the concerns of fellow citizens and not expect unfortunate outcomes like what's happening at BLS. One avenue for parents of color to have some impact on BPS was taken away with the move to an appointed School Committee.
I started out in Kindergarten and first grade at the old Ira Allen, then the Tobin for second grade. Bused to the Winship for 3rd, back to Mission Hill for 4th and 5th grade at the Farragut. Back to Brighton for 6th grade at Edison Middle. Finally was accepted at Latin Academy in 1979.
I never encountered racism on the scale of what was happening in South Boston and Charlestown in those early years. But, I remember when Daryl Williams was left a paraplegic on the football field at Charlestown High. That scared my folks and a lot of other parents. I always wondered how his life would have been different if the city of Boston just complied with the initial court order.
That history is the prism through which I and many others view the relationship between BPS and people of color. So, those who like to lie ( I won't say "pretend" as that implies child-like innocence) about racism and think we're making it up, this is where I'm coming from.
Civil, please yes
By Bobp
Thu, 06/23/2016 - 11:28am
It is a shame that this has cost BLS a Headmaster and brought on federal probe. Once the Mayor and the Superintendent dragged their feet it was inevitable. I also understand how both the teachers and staff at BLS feel under attack as well as those students who publicized their concerns. I am a proud alumnus and arrived at BLS in the fall of 1972 the busing era. Important to remember that busing was created because the School department was not equally funding and supporting all schools in every neighborhood. It was a radical solution to the problem. It was scary I lived through it as did many others. The under representation of minority black students has been a problem at BLS since the 1970’s and maybe even before. Only when there was an outreach program did it get any better. The program is now gone and black enrollment has waned of course just adding more minorities to the student body is not an automatic cure for tension at the school. Question is how much of this is a BLS problem how much is the school system as a whole? It is time for some calm rational planning and outreach. I wonder if that can happen?
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