February 24, 2008
By SETH AUGENSTEIN
SPARTA — A 16-year-old Sparta High School student's critical remarks at a recent Board of Education meeting have thrust him into the spotlight surrounding the workings of the board.
Anthony Maitilasso and his mother Mary Ann Maitilasso said that Anthony has been called down to the principal's office and even called at home by Sparta police. They say it's because he exercised free speech at a recent school board meeting.
Maitilasso spoke at the board's Feb. 4 meeting, and explained concerns on the Sparta student drug testing policy and First Amendment rights for the high school newspaper.
But one thing he said became a point of contention. He called the board's drug testing policy a "complete double standard," saying there should be drug testing for teachers. He said there was a teacher who had been seen in a bathroom doing cocaine last year. Board Vice-President Richard Sullivan corrected him, saying that the teacher's use of drugs was only "alleged." Maitilasso conceded to the use of the word, but some audience members burst out laughing.
"Alleged?" one called out.
It was further explained later in the meeting that the teacher in question was no longer working at Sparta High School, but that no formal charges or disciplinary action had been taken against the person.
But the issue did not end there for Maitilasso. He said he was called down to Acting Principal Jim Bevere's office a few days after the meeting, and was told to sign a document retracting his statements to the board. He said he refused.
"They told me I was going to have to write a letter or sign something saying what I said was wrong," he said. "All my statement was was a general statement.
"They basically thought that if they put me in there, they could get me to crumble," said Maitilasso.
Bevere said in an interview last week that he and Maitilasso had begun their conversation about some other issues, including the student newspaper. However, he said their meeting was "non-threatening," and that he was simply helping Maitilasso understand what you "can say" and "can't say" in a public meeting.
Bevere maintained in the interview that no teacher was dismissed because of drug use, and no student had been disciplined.
"Anthony's been in my office to discuss several things.... no one was ever forced to retract their statements," Bevere said. "What we try to tell to tell people, is when you make public statements, you should be sure of the facts ... I wanted to let him know that his facts were wrong. He shouldn't be making statements that are not fact.
"I don't know how you're going to portray it; I love how the paper's been portraying us lately," he added.
The Maitilassos also were contacted by the police by phone about a week after the meeting. Mary Ann Maitilasso and her son said that Keith Hannam, the high school's resident police officer, called their home to request Anthony to come down to the police station to talk to the police. Both mother and son refused and directed police to the family's attorney.
Det. Sgt. John Schanstra said the Sparta police had contacted Anthony in a "standard follow-up call" about his statements to the board.
"We did make a call," he said.
Schanstra confirmed that there had been a Sparta police investigation involving the high school last year, but refused to comment further about it.
Mary Ann Maitilasso is angry about they scrutiny her son is facing, especially because she and he say his words were not slanderous or illegal.
"I was right behind him when he spoke," she said. "If you don't want to hear what he said, that's one thing, but don't put words in his mouth."
School board members Michael Schiavoni and Richard Sullivan both said last week that they had not heard about any repercussions for Anthony Maitilasso or what he had said at the meeting. Both, however, said it was inappropriate for him to have spoken about the alleged incident.
"I can't imagine there would be any cause for anything like that," Sullivan said.
Schiavoni said any disciplinary action would come from school administrators. The board would not be informed on a "real-time basis," unless there was some outstanding disciplinary action.
Superintendent of Schools Dr. Thomas Morton was at a conference out of the district during the alleged contacts between Maitilasso and Bevere, and the Maitilassos and the police. He said last week that he was looking into the situation.
The issue is likely to be one of the public issues at tonight's board meeting. Mary Ann Maitilasso said she had spoken with school officials, and she was going to follow the lead of her son — by publicly addressing the board.
"My son does not lie," she said in an interview on Saturday.
Anthony Maitilasso guessed there was a simple reason his words had become a point of contention: "They're all teaming up; because they're afraid the students are going to do something for once."
