June 23, 2016

Dr. Tommy Chang, Superintendent of Schools
Boston Public Schools

Bruce Bolling Building

2300 Washington Street

Roxbury, MA 02119

Dear Dr. Chang:

[regret that after fifiy4wo years of service to the Boston Public Schools and to Boston Latin
School in particular I must resign eflective August 31, 2016 It had been my intention to continue
in my role as assistant head master as long as I remained effective in my work with students and
teachers, conditions which still obtain, but recent false representations of the school, in which
politicians and others outside the school have partnered with a vocal group of dissatisfied
parents, your office, and the Boston Public Schools Office of Equity to portray Boston Latin
School untruthfully, have made continuing impossible for me. Particularly hurtful has been your
failure to speak out, to recoytize publicly that the characterization of Boston Latin School
recently in the media has been utterly false

Your representative in the school has repeatedly commented on the peaceful, calnu studious
demeanor of students; he has remarked on the cafeteria as the only one he has seen in which
children of varied races and backgrounds sit together at tables instead of in segregated groups; he
has talked with students and teachers and has commented on their positive attitudes and work
habits; he has observed me working with students and he has joined me in working with both
students and parents. I trust he has conveyed to you many of his observations. Nonetheless, you
have failed to comment publicly on the real atmosphere in the school.

0n the contrary, you have insulted and demeaned the administration and the faculty of the
school. You have failed to squelch the great lie that nothing was done about race-based incidents.
You might have said at the start that indeed the school had taken action, but that some were
dissatisfied with that action. The great lie persists, however, and the Boston Public Schools has
done nothing to stop it. Through your Office of Equity you have created an atmosphere of fear
and mistrust At least fifteen to twenty flaculty members have received letters calling them to
meetings to answer vague allegations and including the statement: "Please be advised that this
meeting may result in discipline, up to and including termination." What effect these letters and
the subsequent meetings have had on faculty morale I am sure you are able to imagine. Many of

the same teachers along with others have been summoned to talk with representatives of the US.
Attorney, in an enquiry that may have been unnecessary had you crushed the great lie at the start

A single event that the Boston Public Schools determined was not handled appropriately has
resulted in worldwide negative publicity for the oldest and best public college preparatory school
in the world, largely due to the weak and inappropriate response from your of?ce. Not once have
I heard from anyone in Boston Public School administration, that, although in hindsight some
might have handled the case differently, the case had indeed been handled and the offender had
indeed been given a consequence. Instead, the common refrain that nothing was done has
become received wisdom.

Nor have we seen the Boston Public Schools acknowledge that the push towards progressive
discipline precludes the use of suspension for ?rst offenses; or the fact that the Boston Public
Schools has failed to support Boston Latin School disciplinary action in numerous cases, all of
which involve parents and/or advocates who tend to be aggressive in pushing their personal
agenda, regardless of facts. Perhaps the conclusion that students smoking marijuana were not in
possession because they had only residue in their grinders tops the list; or perhaps, to
demonstrate a history of such administrative cowardice, we might refer to the case of the student
found not to have done anything when several Victims reported the offender actually putting his
hands into their pockets to take their money, others to his threatening demeanor as he stole
books, and even his accomplice in some of the crimes confessing that they had done these things
together: suspension overturned, of course.

Order is important. Because of that, rules are important. Unenforced or unenforceable rules

. should be eliminated. Existent rules should be enforced. Students expressed disappointment this
year when the rule against leaving the building without permission was not enforced because of
your order. The few who left without permission to attend a rally on the budget fully expected to
be censured, as the BLS Student Handbook provides. Students who followed proper procedure to
be dismissed were not unaware of the failure to enforce a rule, and perhaps all lost a bit of
respect for that rule. The supposition by you and others in central of?ce that because some
schools do not hold students to a standard then no school may do so undermines good order
everywhere. For example, at Boston Latin School ?ghts are rare. Why BPS will not allow BLS
to suspend two students who plan a ?ght, then promise an assistant head master they will not
?ght, but then go ahead and ?ght before an audience of 100 is a mystery to me. One student
appealed. His parents said he could not back down; he was goaded; he is a teenager who would
have lost face: Suspension overturned. A bad example for him and for the hundred. Perhaps in a
school with frequent ?ghts it is impractical to suspend. But ?ghting here is a rare major offense.

At Boston Latin School we have maintained an atmosphere in which students not only feel safe
in school, but actually are safe. Students know and appreciate that there are consequences for

negative actions. They know we are not arbitrary, but they may expect a certain consistency in
the administrative response to misbehavior. In spite of the inconsistent, unpredictable responses
from BPS, BLS maintains an atmosphere within of resPect. 

Dr. Lynne Mooney Teta has been an outstandingly creative and effective head master. Her
academic leadership has led to massive expansion of accessibility to Advanced Placement
courses and at the same time to an increase in AP scores. Her personal commitment to openness
and transparency is evident in the countless hours she has spent in School Site Council, School
Parent Council and other parent meetings, in which she has never dodged a dif?cult question.
Daily informal administrative team meetings, weekly formal administrative team meetings, and
speci?c attention to departmental concerns and long-term plans through meetings with program
directors, small groups of teachers or whole departments have demonstrated her commitment to
academic excellence across the curriculum. Her leadership in developing schoolwide rubrics and
vertical articulation within departments has guided department towards greater uniformity in
standards and grading. Her consultation on and participation in matters of serious discipline have
reinforced for students the Boston Latin School commitment to respect for all. Her taking
seriously the Concerns of small numbers of students dissatis?ed with some disciplinary actions,
and her acknowledgment that within the school as within the community there exist elements of
prejudice and bias?based words or actions in some cases have led most recently to her plan for
school-wide education designed to reduce and eliminate overt expressions or actions. Even
before the current crisis, she had the school on the path to respect, and emphasized to faculty and
students both that respect is earned on both sides and respectful behavior is an expectation, not
merely a request.

Not until after Dr. Mooney Teta?s resignation did I hear you step forward to praise her leadership
and cite a few of her accomplishments. I am disappointed in your lack of support, in your having
met several times and listened to the concerns of the few, including Mr. Curry, Mr. Williams,
and Mr. Petersen, who called for replacing the school administration without ever having visited
the school or having talked with the great majority of students and parents who support the
school and its progranm. in that majority I include most students and families of color, who while
acknowledging problems deriving from race, ethnicity or other difference, recognize that Boston
Latin School is a safe place, a place where students can work and learn without fear, where they
can and often must work with students of diverse backgrounds. They know that their children
can stay after school for any of 150 different activities. They know that Boston Latin School and
the work habits developed there prepare their children for learning at college and in professions.
There are reasons why employers across the city want BLS students in part-time jobs, why
professionals and others want them in internships, why guests in the school go away praising the
treatment they received from the students, why the best colleges in the country are happy to
receive students from Boston Latin School.

As the person most responsible for maintaining discipline in the school I state simply that
students know they will be treated fairly and with respect, although there will be times when
some are not happy with the treatment they receive or with the treatment they perceive others
receiving. We are, after all, a community of over 2,500 children and adults. We expect and
respect difference. I

My heart is with the students and the faculty, the custodial staff and cafeteria workers, whom I
shall miss every day. Every day at the school has been a different adventure for me. Every day
has produced a surprise here, a challenge there, an exasperation or two along the way. I shall
miss my care for the building and its systems, and my probably annoying to them interactions

I with the facilities department. I shall miss my relationships with the BPS, Boston, MBTA,
College of Art, College of Pharmacy, Simmons College,Emrnanuel College, Harvard University
and other police agencies, all of whom have worked with us at BLS in ways great and small for
the safety and security of our community.

I shall ful?ll all obligations to the best of my ability and leave with my colleagues whatever
guidance they may need in ful?lling functions for which I have been responsible.

Sincerely,

Malcolm J. 
Assistant Head Master
Boston Latin School

0: Michael D. O?Neill, Chairman, Boston School Committee
Lynne Mooney Teta, Head Master, Boston Latin School
Peter G. Kelley, President, Boston Latin School Association