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Popular Teacher's Reassignment Leads to Parent Protests

Thu, 09/12/2024 - 13:14

Tom House described as role model for students

Tom House
Durell Godfrey

On Monday morning, the start of the first full week of the 2024-25 school year, administrators at the Bridgehampton School abruptly reassigned a popular tenured teacher, Tom House, to home leave.

Mr. House, who lives in Springs and is the founder of Hamptons Pride and its signature parade in East Hampton Village, has been employed by the district for 15 years. He also leads its Gender and Sexualities Alliance, a creative writing club, and a third club through a partnership with the Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons in which students with learning disabilities gain life skills through interactions with shelter pets.

In June, shortly after the Pride Parade and the death of his brother, Mr. House received a proclamation from the East Hampton Town Board acknowledging his “unwavering dedication to the promotion of L.G.B.T.Q.+ history and pride, his visionary leadership in creating Hamptons Pride, and his significant contributions to fostering a more inclusive and celebratory community for all.” He is also a past recipient of the Express News Group’s Person of the Year award.

In a letter sent Monday from Michael Cox, the school principal, to the parents of students in Mr. House’s high school English classes, the teacher’s sudden absence from the classroom was described as “an extended leave of absence” stemming from “unforeseen circumstances.”

However, Mary Kelly, the district superintendent, confirmed Tuesday that she had placed Mr. House on “reassignment to home.” Because of “privacy concerns,” she said she could not comment further on the record other than to say the action “has nothing to do with Hamptons Pride.”

Mr. Cox’s letter on Monday went on to say that “during this time, we have taken proactive steps to ensure that your children’s learning experience remains uninterrupted and continues to meet the highest standards.”

At least one day before officially reassigning Mr. House to home duties with pay, the district began advertising a job opening for a “long-term leave replacement” teacher to take on a schedule of seventh-through-12th-grade English classes. According to a job posting time-stamped over the weekend on OLAS, an online school employment hub maintained by the Board of Cooperative Educational Services of Putnam and Northern Westchester, Bridgehampton is seeking candidates for an “immediate opening,” with applications due to the district by this coming Monday.

With Mr. House still receiving his salary — which, according to SeeThroughNY.net, a database of public employees’ salaries in New York State, is approximately $114,500 — this means the district will be paying two teachers for essentially the same position.

Mr. House’s reassignment caused an outcry this week among a number of parents and both current and former students, with one of them providing a copy of Mr. Cox’s letter to The Star.

Another parent, Erling Hope, two of whose children both had Mr. House as a teacher and who himself taught robotics at Bridgehampton during the 2023-24 school year, is among those protesting the veteran teacher’s reassignment.

Mr. House “expects a lot from his students, which I appreciate, but he is a humane and compassionate teacher,” Mr. Hope said in a text message. “I consider him one of that school’s bright lights, a model for the students he has served through several administrations, and an outstanding member of the community. I don’t know what the grievances are against him, but it is incumbent on the administration to be radically transparent about them and about their process of discernment.”

Susan Wartur, a retired New York City teacher who lives next door to Mr. House in Springs, described him as a “loving and good and bright” person.

“This man is a star and he’s a community leader . . . a model of what a human being should be. What’s happening is horrible,” Ms. Wartur said, adding that the district’s handling of the matter “is also a horrible lesson for the students.”

Concerned friends of Mr. House told The Star that following the death of his brother, the grieving teacher was reportedly assigned to home sometime in June. He later underwent an evaluation by a psychiatrist at the behest of the school district and was ultimately cleared to return to the classroom. Asked this week to confirm that information, Ms. Kelly, the superintendent, again declined to comment.

It remained unclear as of press time whether Mr. House will face official disciplinary charges from the district via a 3020-A inquiry, the lengthy process a school district must go through with the New York State Education Department to legally remove a tenured teacher. Such disciplinary actions are typically not made public, though teachers being accused of wrongdoing have the option to make those hearings open to the public, as has been the case with the Amagansett School District’s nearly yearlong effort to fire its tenured principal.

Mr. House declined to comment on the reason he was given for his reassignment. In an email to The Star yesterday, he said he needs “more time” before he “can relay the full story.” He also said he has fielded many questions from people wondering if it has anything to do with his role as president and founder of Hamptons Pride or the fact that he is the “only out L.G.B.T.Q.+ teacher at the school.”

“I don’t yet know the answer to those larger questions,” he wrote in his email.

“I am grateful for the many messages of support I’m receiving from members of the community, and especially from past students,” Mr. House continued. “Their memories of how I’ve served as a mentor to them and helped them to succeed over the years, both personally and professionally, are a silver lining in this ordeal.”

 

 

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