Parents Complain to Board of Ed About Show Cancellation

Columbia High School parents say they still don’t understand why a high school comedy troupe’s last performance was cancelled.

Parents, who attended this week’s school board meeting, complained that the school district didn’t communicate with parents and students who were part of the Friday Night Live comedy troupe. The controversy happened in June, when the acting group did two shows at the high school’s Black Box theater, but the third show was cancelled abruptly by the school administration.

At the time, the district issued a statement that said one of the skits in the show was offensive and inappropriate, but declined to discuss the specifics, saying it would “compound the invasion of privacy of the several faculty members involved. The students moved the final performance of the show to the Maplewood Tennis Club.

Parent Talia Rothenberg complained at Monday’s meeting about a "lack of communication" during and after the show’s controversy.  Despite repeated requests, she said, "The group didn't have a chance" to speak to Superintendent Brian Osborne or Principal Lovie Lilly. "We needed someone who could answer back about the problem."

Further, she asked for "protocol" in dealing with such situations. "We're not talking about what to do when a situation arises when a child is called a bigot by a teacher or the other way around.  There needs to be some kind of protocol."  

Parent Lori Abrams said, "We have taught our children to respect authority but we also ask our educators to respect our children." She said the situation was, "No conversation, no dialogue, just accusation and punishment."

"It's unfortunate," said parent Lynn Daddo, "that superintendent had never heard of the show and that the principal has never attended." 

Amy Klein, who said her son was in the troupe for three years said in advisors saw the script in May and asked for modifications and the students complied. She added that faculty members attended a daylong rehearsal of the show and invited a professional comedian to assist and that comedian also saw the show. Klein said they did Tuesday and Thursday performances and it wasn’t until Friday that the students were told they defied the instructions to change the show.

"These are good kids who respect authority," said Klein, making the point that adults were involved in the show's planning. 

After the show was cancelled, s; . Some students involved in the comedy troupe who had their and later got their . However, a number of students served "Super Saturday" detentions in June. 

School board members declined to respond to the parents’ complaints on Monday.

Friday Night Live is an established student group and performs annually. There is no word yet on what will happen in the coming school year