There is a bitter irony to the continuing discussion over the fate of Brighton Collegiate High School.

    The foundation of charter schools is fundamentally based on the fact that they are for the parents and by the parents who desire another option for their children’s education.

    But it was unmistakable at Thursday night’s meeting regarding the future of Brighton Collegiate High School that the parents of the school have somehow been left out of the decision-making process in regards to their school.

    There has always been a sense of disenfranchisement between the Brighton Collegiate community and School District 27J. The enmity, contrary to popular belief, predated the string of teacher misconduct incidents. These two groups have been at battle from nearly the very start.

    The only difference was Brighton Collegiate leaders were crafty enough to roll that dislike into a mantra of “us versus them.” It allowed them to create a lot of mistrust and misgivings about 27J’s intentions for the school and successfully distract the school community from the real problems facing Brighton Collegiate High School.

    And there were real problems. It’s easy to say 27J was simply picking on the school. But it is time to stop pretending four separate teacher incidents in four years were mere coincidence.

    While those fences may be never be mended, there were a lot of parents last week who have no desire to fight. They simply want answers. They want to know what’s going to happen to the school next year. They want to know what is going to happen to the good, decent educators who have gone out of their way to educate their children in the face of immense obstacles.

    They deserve answers

    These are your refugees, 27J. They have been left behind in the wake of years of political bickering, infighting and individual agendas.

    The district will have a decision to make soon on the future of this school and at least a representative group of these parents deserve a spot at the table.

    School District 27J likes to say it supports choice. If the plan is to arbitrarily bring in some national charter school organization to run things without hearing the voice of these parents, then they really had no choice.

    You might not like what they have to say. The level of contempt bred at BCHS for all things school district is endemic.

    But they should be heard.