Hartland Superintendent Chuck Hughes is responding to comments made during a podcast featuring two members of the district’s board of education.
As GIGO News reported Sunday, board members Greg Keller and Glenn Gogoleski appeared on the “This is My Brain” podcast in which Gogoleski indicated his wife is a secretary at Farms Intermediate School and inferred she had told him about incidents involving problem students and called it “sickening” how instead of “grabbing them by the scruff of the neck” administrators would resolve the incident without physical force. The host of the show then referred to a student described by Gogoleski as having a meltdown as a “fu – – tard,” which neither board member disputed or attempted to correct.
Gogoleski then concluded that he could never be a teacher because if he was, “I would be a news highlight reel.” He then said he wanted to enter school buildings unannounced and unescorted and see how far he could get inside.
When asked about the comments, Hughes responded with the following statement:
“The district is investigating the matter regarding what was shared on the podcast by Board Trustees Greg Keller and Glenn Gogoleski,” said Hughes. “I want to assure the community and parents that the district has protocols for visitors coming into our buildings including Board of Education members. Today, I met with Mr. Gogoleski and he has assured me that he will not be trying to enter the buildings and will make arrangements ahead of time so that the building administrators can escort him while visiting. Our school staff will continue to follow these protocols and not allow people to walk through a building without permission. As always, our number one priority is our students’ and staff’s safety. Regarding the failure to correct the hosts’ vicious name calling of our students, Mr. Keller and Mr. Gogoleski will need to answer to the public on this issue. If community members have additional concerns, I would encourage them to reach out to our school board president, Chris Costa, to voice these concerns. His email is chriscosta@hartlandschools.us.”
Parents have also responded.
An online petition has been created by the Livingston Integrity group demanding “that all current school board members have a background check,” and will be presented to the board at the March 13 meeting.
Also, a protest is planned Thursday at 3 p.m. outside Superintendent Hughes office to demand an investigation regarding the potential violation of FERPA, the federal policy that protects student’s privacy.
“Any parent (is invited) who has concerns that board member Mr. Gogoleski has admitted publicly that his wife, who works as a secretary in the schools, passes along information to him regarding student behavior,” states a Facebook invite.
