Kick Me Out of School, I’m Irish!

The saying goes that ‘Everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day’ – but at the Main Street Elementary School in Irvington, NY, if you’re 10 years old and show just how Irish you are at school, you get sent home.

This year on St. Patrick’s Day, Main Street students who celebrated with temporary tattoos, painted-on shamrocks or green hair were extracted from class, scrubbed down and shipped home.

The night before, principal Dr. Raina Kor sent out the following e-mail to Main Street parents:

Dear Parents,

Although this has not happened often, one year some students came to school on St. Patrick’s Day with face makeup on as well as a few with wigs or hats. Please know that students are not allowed to wear face make-up or hats/wigs.

Thank you for your help with this.

Best regards,

Raina

Some parents seem to have gotten that e-mail; others didn’t.

One parent describes her child’s ordeal:

Kids, including my son, who could not be picked up immediately were taken to be “cleaned off” (my sons words) and could not return to class until this was done. I believe the people cleaning the kids were doing what they were told and were loving and caring but how humiliating! I laughed with my son, “no matter how much you scrub, you are who you are…. Its all good”. I still had to pick up my son because he wasn’t totally “cleaned off.”

I’m glad the parent made the best of an unfortunate situation – in this case, laughing it off as ridiculous.

The reasoning behind removing these kids from the classroom was that these shamrock tattoos and green hair streaks were distracting, said principal Raina Kor in an e-mail to a parent:

It is unclear to me why St. Patrick’s Day is perceived as a day where kids would come to school decorated in any way. Halloween of course is rooted in the idea of costume. Bulldog Day (school colors are green and white) is a spirit day, and we discus school-wide in advance what kids can wear or not wear. I can’t really think of any other day where kids come to school with tattoos, face paint or hair paint. So I am a little perplexed where this came from and why there is an expectation that it is ok. The fact is, when students wear makeup, face paint and other types of things of the same ilk, it serves as a distraction in the classroom.

This must have been Dr. Kor’s first St. Patrick’s Day.

When I was in elementary school, we celebrated St. Patrick’s Day in every fun way possible. We sang songs, we wore green. We made “leprechaun traps” out of those small plastic baskets berries are sold in, then set the traps before we went to gym class. When we came back to the classroom, it was in disarray – the leprechauns had sprung each and every one of our traps, “hidden” our shoes all over the room and even turned some of our coats inside out!

We learned a bit about Irish history and culture, including sampling simple Irish cuisine (I could’ve lived without that part). It gave us an opportunity to enjoy a foreign country and culture, see how it mixed over the centuries with what has come to be American culture, and throw in a great time. The “Irish” kids had a blast; the ones without Irish heritage got to be Irish for a day and share in the celebration.

Oddly enough, none of us were sent home for having a good time with a bit of cultural diversity.

I tried to get in touch with Dr. Kor this afternoon, but I couldn’t get a live body at the Main Street School. I called the Irvington School District main line and asked to speak with Superintendent Kathy Matusiak. She also wasn’t in; I was transferred to ‘acting Superintendent’ James Reese, who is normally the business manager. I left a message.

It’s important that every school administrator understands what constitutes a distraction to the learning environment. The precedent – really, the gold standard – for “distractions” vs. freedom of expression in schools is the seminal Supreme Court case of Tinker vs. Des Moines Independent Community School District. In that case, a few students wore black armbands to protest the Vietnam War. The students were suspended; by a 7-2 vote, the Supreme Court ruled that their freedom of expression was valid on school grounds provided that it didn’t constitute a distraction to the learning environment.

Dr. Kor concluded that shamrock tattoos and green hair failed this ‘Tinker test,’ so she had the tykes scrubbed down and sent packing.

A look at the Main Street School policies for ‘holidays’ and other celebrations shows an awfully lax attitude toward dress, as “Winter Celebration” has a sanctioned “pajama day” for elementary students and 5th graders have a pool party – where I can only assume they’ll wear bathing suits. A shamrock tattoo, however, seems to impede a 4th grader from absorbing arithmetic.

Parents are up in arms over this – and rightly so.

The Main Street School principal has taken a fun, lighthearted celebration of a culture and ruined it for the kids who chose to express themselves or simply have a good time. The children, by being called to the office over the loudspeaker, scrubbed down and sent back to class or sent home must have been humiliated – all for celebrating a decidedly uncontroversial St. Patrick’s Day. Instead of encouraging pride in one’s culture – and a curiosity and appreciation for other cultures for those who have no family ties to the celebration – Dr. Kor’s dismissal of these elementary kids will likely make them reserved and wary of celebrating diversity in the future.

Shame on you, Raina Kor. I expect this from Roald Dahl’s Miss Trunchbull, but not from an elementary principal in a caring New York suburb. As a student put it when told of the dismissals, “That’s so mean.”

Agreed.

Agreed, agreed, agreed.

UPDATE:

Raina Kor issued the following response today around 3pm EST:;

Dear Parents,

Apparently there has been a misunderstanding that I would like to clarify regarding St. Patrick’s Day at Main Street School. I was concerned to hear that some people felt that in some way I was not demonstrating tolerance or acceptance of the holiday, and therefore people of an Irish background. I am sorry if people felt this way, that of course would never be my purpose or belief.  I should have been clearer in my e-mail to you, referencing Halloween and the similar expectation around face makeup and hair paint.  On Thursday, students were welcome to wear green in celebration of the holiday, but I along with the teachers of MSS have found that at these grade levels, face make-up and hair paint can be messy at times, as well as create a distraction in the classroom. In addition, in the future I will provide more advanced notice. Again I am sorry if anyone felt offended. We work very hard at Main Street to be inclusive and respectful of all people.

Best regards,

Raina

It’s a “non-apology apology.” Here’s how Dr. Kor sees it through that paragraph:

1) There’s a misunderstanding. You dumb parents and community members just don’t get it. These are the rules and they’re for your own good.

2) I’m sorry that you’re angry, but I’m not sorry about what I did.

3) I will issue my mandates – even though they run counter to common sense and the law – clearer and in advance of the date next time around.

4) In case you weren’t sure, I’m definitely not sorry and I don’t believe I acted inappropriately. But I’m sorry you feel like I did.

Has Dr. Kor ever been in a classroom full of 10 year olds? If a little face paint is the messiest thing you deal with, things are pretty good.

I wonder if the Main Street School has handy-wipes for cleaning off those distractions on Ash Wednesday, too.