OR principal resigned citing bullying and anonymous comments from blog

OR principal resigned citing bullying and anonymous comments from blog

By RONI REINO
rreino@fosters.com
Saturday, June 25, 2011


DURHAM — An online blog was the main reason Oyster River High School Principal Laura Rogers resigned, according to her resignation letter.

In the letter dated Jan. 11, Rogers recounts how the Internet blog, Oyster River Community Resource, had supported "anonymous, vitriolic comments" directed at central office administrators and building principals.

"I thought it was extremely hurtful," she said on Friday.

Anonymous comments on the blog range from comments saying property taxes in the area are "outrageous" to hoping the board will "seek a leader that has the ability to communicate and collaborate" when Superintendent Howard Colter retires.

An anonymous Dec. 17 posting states, "Perhaps we will get lucky and (Director of Instruction) Meredith Nadeau will leave with (Howard) Colter."

Shortly after Rogers' resignation, it was announced Nadeau would be leaving the district to become a superintendent in Cape Elizabeth, Maine.

Rogers said School Board members have commented on the blog in the past, and although they may have not endorsed such a "bullying" type behavior, they participated in posting content.

"It's like if I looked the other way if students were doing something wrong," she said. "I can't say I respect the choice."

An Oct. 28 post by board member Jim Kach said he is "saddened by the tone and depth of these comments." He said he would prefer to read suggestions by the community, than "incessant sniping and trading of insults."

In her resignation letter, Rogers said those who participate in the blog are "tacitly supporting those who have made this district a place that champions an 'us against them' mentality and where rumors are circulated as if they are a reality."

Comments on the blog are still posted below posts, many of them anonymous and many of them indicating community members are unhappy with decisions by district officials.

"It felt like there was an assumption by some people that educators in the district don't know what they are doing," she said.

Rogers also in the last two to three years while working with the Oyster River Cooperative School District, she has "felt that the majority of the Board has had little understanding or respect for what is taking place at the high school and the work that I do here."

Rogers has taken a job in Goffstown as an interim guidance director at the high school.

"It should be a new opportunity to do something different," she said. "It will be a chance for me to help them out and a new opportunity for me."
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OR principal's letter of resignation


Saturday, June 25, 2011



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Article: OR principal resigned citing bullying and anonymous comments from blog

& the accompanying article....

The following is a letter of resignation dated Jan., 11, 2011 from Laura Rogers, Oyster River High School principal.



Dear Superintendent Colter,

It is with mixed feelings that I tender this letter of resignation, effective at the end of my contract, June 30,2011. I have the deepest affection for the faculty and staff of Oyster River High School and love spending each day with our students. Being part of the district's Leadership Team has been a privilege and an opportunity for my personal and professional growth. However, the current political climate and the tension that exists in the relationship between the administration and many members of the School Board have led me to this decision. Unfortunately, there have been too many occasions in the last two or three years where I have felt that the majority of the Board has had little understanding or respect for what is taking place at the high school and the work that I do here.

There are past and present board members who regularly post to an internet blog that supports anonymous, vitriolic comments that often malign not only central office administrators and building principals (who enter their jobs knowing that some level of negativity comes along with them), but secretaries, guidance counselors and individual teachers. By choosing to participate in this type of activity, they are tacitly supporting those who have made this district a place that champions an "us against them" mentality and where rumors are circulated as if they are a reality. Frankly, this is exactly the type of behavior that the bullying/cyber-bullying policy they just passed is supposed to eliminate when it happens between students. While I understand that their own postings may be benign, they are sending a message to the community that they approve of the blog in its entirety. This blog has caused some of my faculty and staff members a lot of pain and anxiety and I can find no value in it.

In spite of the challenges, I have certainly enjoyed the time I have spent at Oyster River. The people with whom I work have been wonderful and we have had the opportunity to develop new programs and to refine those that were already in place. Extended learning opportunities, internships, advisory and new classes have grown to become an integral part of what makes up the high school and I am proud to have been part of their evolution. Thank you very much for the opportunities and the mentoring you have offered me during my tenure here.

Sincerely,

Laura Rogers

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