As Clovis student got booed and jeered by parents, where were the adults in the room?
What is it about school board meetings that causes grown ups to act like children?
I opted for “grown ups” instead of “adults” because the latter suggests a certain level of mental development and maturity — the kind noticeably absent from Wednesday night’s Clovis Unified school board meeting. During which a group of parents (plus a few bad actors, surely) booed and jeered a student who spoke out in favor of masks and vaccines.
Except it’s not just those grown ups whose behavior must be called out. Equally deserving are the supposed adults in the room that occupy dais seats assigned to members of the board of trustees. Adults who witnessed what transpired and reacted with cold-shouldered, collective indifference.
Oh, sure. Clovis Unified Superintendent Eimear O’Brien had Rami Zwebti’s back … the following day. O’Brien (formerly O’Farrell) called the ill treatment Rami received “disturbing and utterly unacceptable” and said she had personally reached out to the Buchanan High senior.
But what about Board President Steven Fogg and the six other trustees? What’s their excuse for saying and doing nothing? When a student gets booed and jeered at a public meeting, by juvenile parents, you’d think someone in a position of responsibility would rise to their defense or at least offer a few words about decorum. But as Rami exited the room in tears, board members sat in silence like a school of spineless jellyfish.
Public comment continued like nothing happened — and if Bee reporter Ashleigh Panoo hadn’t found Rami sitting alone in the hallway a few minutes later, none of this would have come out.
Which is surely how Clovis Unified officials would’ve preferred. Another negative news story swept under the rug.
Never OK for adults to bully kids
Adults bullying kids is never OK, no matter the context. Feels like a sentence that shouldn’t have to be written. Yet here we are. Proving once again there’s no societal line that can’t be crossed by narrow-minded ignorance.
During their two minutes at the lectern, Rami (who identifies as non-binary and says they are immunocompromised) forcefully delivered a message many in the room didn’t want to hear: Their protests over school mask mandates and vaccines — all based on slanted mistruths about COVID — reek of ignorance and privilege.
“We sit here arguing about a piece of fabric that weighs 12 grams while millions of families lose their loved ones,” they said. “Set aside your pretentious arrogance and think of those you hold dear. Think about how you would feel if they were suddenly taken from you without warning, without mercy.”
Rami told Panoo they had previously attended a school board meeting to protest the district’s dress code — and was ridiculed by parents for wearing a dress. So they knew what was likely in store. So kudos to Rami for voicing beliefs and advocating at the entrance to the lion’s den. That takes bravery and conviction.
Rami has more supporters and allies than they know. Just not at a Clovis Unified school board meeting, apparently.
Nothing but finest citizens of Clovis, Fresno
Honestly, the less I write about the parents and community members who booed and jeered, the guy who said “Boy, sit” or the female speaker who followed with a ridiculous analogy that could have only been produced by an addled mind, the better.
But as one watches the video of Rami’s remarks, it’s impossible not to notice the man in the front row sitting impassively with arms folded before pulling on an NRA beanie. Or the guy next to him with the sign comparing COVID-19 vaccines to a horrific syphilis experiment in Alabama during which Black men went untreated.
What a crowd. Nothing but the finest citizens of Clovis and Fresno. (Let’s not forget Clovis Unified has two high schools, two intermediate schools and more than a dozen elementaries with Fresno addresses.)
Not to excuse their actions in any way, but I don’t have the highest set of expectations for people with nothing better to do with their Wednesday evening than compare mask mandates to Nazi genocide or make false claims about COVID vaccines killing thousands.
Those folks are already way too far down the laundry chute of conspiracy.
But it is fair to expect more from the supposed adults in the room, board members and officials entrusted with maintaining a safe and respectful environment. Especially for one of the district’s own students.
By saying and doing nothing while a crowd booed and jeered, Fogg and his fellow trustees failed in their responsibility. Which, in that respect, makes them no better than the bullies themselves.
This story was originally published October 22, 2021 at 1:17 PM.
