A Saugus Union School District (SUSD) parent expressed concern Wednesday over social media posts made by two members of the SUSD Board.

By Mary Nieves

I am a parent of children in the Saugus Union School District, and I am outraged at the behavior of our School Board President, Julie Olsen, and School Board Member David Barlavi. They have each recently made many public Facebook posts/comments which demonstrate their inability to be rational and tolerant to fellow community members.

In said posts Olsen has coined an acronym ILPR (Infectious Little Plague Rat) and has been labeling community members within SCV as such as well as calling out parents and teachers simply for attending peaceful protests, speaking up for their kids, and for just thanking Mayor Smyth for his efforts to safely reopen our community.

Among other questionable posts, Barlavi recently thanked the looters with his post “Let’s thank the looters for making LA safe from COVID again. #Curfew.”

Olsen also said that she “Can’t wait to move” in response to a post of safely reopening our community. These are comforting comments to hear from our elected officials, right?

That’s right, they are elected officials and these public posts are not only an embarrassment to our community and the parents and children they represent, but they are a clear example of how irrational they are.

Olsen is entitled to her own opinion as we all are, but she clearly does not have a tolerance for other people’s beliefs. Her public posts are a clear violation of her position, as it pertains to the code of conduct in Civility, Governance Standards, and Public Statements.

Dr. Hawkins, the Superintendent of SUSD just released a statement on Tuesday morning on “Protests, Our District, and Supporting our Children” which read:

“The Saugus Union School District and its Governing Board are committed to addressing community concerns related to equity and inclusivity.  We are committed to ensuring we provide the opportunities for our students to thrive as literate, THOUGHTFUL, TOLERANT, INCLUSIVE, PROBLEM-SOLVING INDIVIDUALS.  We will work with community partners to develop greater cultural proficiency within our organization and support us with implementing community conversations to address the important topics of equity and diversity.  It is critical that our community tackle the issue of equity and that our schools support students in developing their ability to be inclusive, tolerant, and understanding of others.  We must establish schools where children learn to engage in positive relationships with others, that they value their similarities with their peers, and they celebrate their differences.”

If this statement is meant to be taken seriously at all, then Board Members who are not committed to this mission statement, and on the contrary making a mockery of it, need to go. Julie Olsen and David Barlavi are providing horrible examples for our kids and community members, demonstrating intolerance by labeling, name-calling, and negatively generalizing anyone with different beliefs from their own.

We are in a crucial time as far as our children’s education is concerned. Parents are not only worried sick over their children’s right to receive an education, but their social and emotional health while receiving it.

There has been serious talk within SUSD and guidelines released about masking children all day and not allowing them closer than 6 feet to their teacher and classmates. These are restrictions that many of the parent and teacher community know will not only be impossible to implement but also damaging.

We need School Board officials in charge who can be trusted to be professional, ethical, rational, and open-minded – officials who we can trust to make the best decisions for our kids, officials who lead by example.

Olsen’s and Barlavi’s actions have made it clear that they cannot be trusted to do their job. Olsen has made it clear by these vulgar posts, bullying and name-calling parents – parents and teachers who are exercising their democratic right to peacefully protest or state their own opinion- that she has her own agenda. And Barlavi thanking looters?

Having these people represent our children and make decisions for the future of their education is not what is best for our kids and our community because they are biased and irrational.

It was bad enough when Olsen’s text messages were leaked in the recent past in which she calls parents and community members expletives and even more horrific, that she wishes two parents would “crash into each other in a fiery fatal blaze.” How she could have still been sworn into office and/or not removed from office after this – and this alone – does not reflect well for our school district, wishing that kids would lose their parents.

As to my knowledge, the STA has relayed their concerns regarding Olsen’s recent Facebook posts to Dr. Hawkins. And it is to my knowledge that Dr. Hawkins had intended to ‘speak’ with her. Just a slap on the wrist is not enough and it is an injustice to our community, students, and teachers to keep such a person in office.

As Olsen has done in the past, she will defend that those are her own personal feelings and that she was not speaking as the School Board President. We all know that she is the same person, and the code of conduct clearly outlines her many violations.

Furthermore, vulgarity in which Olsen and Barlavi post is unacceptable. In the very least, they demonstrate a lack of respect for people and common decency. So what is finally going to happen? When is the Board going to hold them accountable?

Again, Olsen and Barlavi are entitled to have their own opinions, but their actions show that they clearly do not believe that others are entitled to theirs. In addition, Olsen is an elected official publicly saying that she “can’t wait to move.” Her aggressive, public attacks on our parents who are just trying to be a voice for their children’s right to an education make it clear that she is not an advocate. She is an enemy who is unfit to do this job, and she should be held accountable and removed from this position…immediately. The community and children do not deserve her to see out her term.

There are a growing amount of parents here, including myself, who will be pulling their children out of SUSD and enrolling them in homeschool programs until they can be provided a full-time education that is safe and productive in ALL ways (no masking and distancing).

After voicing this to Dr. Hawkins, she replied, “Well that’s your choice.” It is sad and infuriating that certain members of our School Board cannot be trusted to be advocates for our kids during this critical time.

Concerned Parent and Community Member,

Mary Nieves

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