Another politically charged email has surfaced from the Michigan teacher who refused to show President Donald Trump’s inauguration speech during class. This note, sent to parents Nov. 9 — the day after the election — sheds more light on Brett Meteyer’s personal agenda, and raises questions about complicity by the school administration.
The latest revelation comes amid ongoing backlash in the small community of Williamston, Mich., and a media firestorm that followed Watchdog.org‘s first reporting on an email from Meteyer to parents that was shared with Michigan radio talk show host Steve Gruber.
That email, which Gruber read on-air and posted to Facebook, said that because the Trump team had not provided the Explorer Elementary School teacher with a preview of the inaugural address, Meteyer worried about what Trump might say and therefore would not let his fourth-grade class watch the speech.
A parent subsequently shared the Nov. 9 email with Gruber, and Watchdog obtained it. In the email, time-stamped 2:59 p.m. with a subject line of “Election Discussion in Class,” Meteyer criticized the community’s lack of diversity, and discusses how he drew from Jamaican music icon Bob Marley to comfort students who were “deeply disturbed” about the election results:
Dear Parents,
No matter your opinion of our president-elect, I would like to share some thoughts that I expressed to the class this morning during a discussion of these current events. My goal was to comfort those who were worried about where this election leaves us. Several times I emphasized the point that our country has strong institutions that prevent a single person, no matter how mean or disrespectful his words are, from making sweeping changes that affect the way we live. Making your own choice about treating others with love and compassion, and doing and saying things that you know are kind and respectful is still the way we expect students to behave, despite this perhaps being a greater challenge with some of the role models children see in sports, entertainment, and yes, politics.
Working in a traditionally politically conservative community, I find that it is challenging to see diversity on the surface, necessitating a closer examination of and relationship with students to notice those particular characteristics that make them unique. While it’s easy to stay right in town and conduct all one’s business without leaving Williamston, I have come to know children who have friends of a more racially and ethnically diverse background, perhaps through church groups, sports teams, and scouts. Maybe your child knows someone whose skin is not the same color as his/her own, whose ancestors did not originally hail from Europe, or whose way of worshiping seems so very different. Such may be the case for your child, growing up in the shadow of the state capital and a major university with thousands of international students.
It was clear to me from the start of the day that a few of the children were deeply disturbed by yesterday’s election, so I finished our morning talk by quoting Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds.” “Don’t worry about a thing ’cause every little thing gonna be alright.”
Most Sincerely,Gruber, who has kids in the district, called the email a clear effort by Meteyer to use his students as a way to talk about his own political agenda outside the classroom.
Brett Meteyer
“The letter praising Bob Marley as a role model while denigrating the newly and duly elected president is very telling,” he said. “Kids are smart and they pick up on what [Meteyer] is saying. It’s not his place.”
Cliff Hart is a local businessman and parent whose child is a former student of Meteyer. He told Watchdog.org that while Williamston is a small town, the diversity card is not only out of line, but incorrect.
“In our community, we are diverse no matter what Meteyer says in his email. Just because we’re all white or mostly white doesn’t mean we’re not diverse. And that’s the most ridiculous part of all this,” said Hart. “I see the diversification of income, race and religion. It doesn’t always show it in skin color.”
“When I see stuff like this it infuriates me because I’m spending my tax dollars,” he said.
‘Educated and open’
School principal Kelly Campbell, acknowledging increasing pressure from the community and media, sent a one-page letter to parents insisting student safety and respect for differences are her top priorities. The only reference to Meteyer himself was in a veiled admonition:
“The concerns expressed this week offer a reminder that there is much power in the words that we speak and write. In the school setting we want to share messages that inform and support families, but that do not carry any connotation of partisanship or judgement.”
The district is not saying if it considers either of Meteyer’s emails as connoting partisanship, insisting district policy does not allow administrators to comment on specific employee-employer issues.
Meteyer has not responded to Watchdog’s requests for comment.
But for parents like Hart, if the teacher faces no consequences, the principal’s letter is nothing more than lip service for the purpose of damage control.
“Unfortunately, when you want to change something that’s not quite perfect, well, that’s negative. Nobody wants to talk about it, just bury it,” he said. “But we should be proud that we have a community that’s educated and open enough to have this debate. Because it is happening in other communities and it’s not being addressed. For fear of reprisal, for ignorance, for who knows what reasons are.”
“I’m not trying to be hurtful or negative, but I think it’s more hurtful and negative to not talk about it,’’ Hart added.
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