September 8, 2020
Dear Arundel High School Families,
I am writing in regard to a question used in several of our United States Government classes today that
provides a lesson for all of us about understanding the importance of the impact of statements or
questions.
As part of an exercise to gauge students’ current understanding of some elements of the course, students
were asked to analyze a situation in which three people – a famous athlete, an everyday citizen, and a
former elected official – were stopped by police. In the purely hypothetical example, all three were
stopped by police and found to have narcotics in their cars. The former elected official was released. The
item did not state the status of the other two, but it was implied they were not released.
As part of the course curriculum, students learn that justice should be blind to position or influence and
that the rule of law should apply to everyone equally. In an attempt to illustrate how this can go awry, the
question inappropriately used the name of a former elected official who is now a private citizen and
remains a community member. While the intention of the question was pure, the impact was disparaging.
For that, on behalf of our school, I apologize to our community and to those named in the question.
When I became aware of the issue, I contacted our entire social studies team and we talked through the
inappropriateness of the example. The question has been removed from the Google classroom sites in
which it was located and will not be used again.
Life is full of teachable moments, and this is one for our entire team. We pride ourselves on our ability to
help students understand their place as global citizens. We have done tremendous work over the years to
promote social justice and cultivate students who are compassionate, accepting, tolerant, and who work
hard to help develop communities that exhibit those values. We are not perfect, and in this case we fell
short. As we would expect our students to do, we will work harder than ever to live up to the high
standards we set.
Sincerely,

Gina Davenport
Principal
GD/bm