Also: Petition to ban wearing of the Confederate flag discussed
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UNION TWP. — Northwest Area School Board opened Wednesday’s meeting with the name plate of the late Gerald Conger still on the table in front of an empty seat.
“He was an integral part of the community” Board President Leigh Bonczewski said of Conger, who died last week at the age of 88, leaving his school board seat vacant. Appointing a replacement was on the agenda.
“He was a really good man. He cared about the district, the parents and the kids. I’m going to miss him.”
Superintendent Joseph Long offered a final story about Conger, who died Wednesday, April 21,the day the board was supposed to hold the monthly meeting, which was postponed to last night.
Conger called the district that Tuesday “from his hospital bed” to say he wouldn’t be able to attend the meeting. “He loved Northwest Area.”
During the meeting, the board voted to appoint Edward Brunn to fill Conger’s seat. Brunn was the only applicant.
The board also voted to move the district in sports from District 2 to District 4 for baseball, softball, track and field, football, field hockey, cross country, girls basketball and boys basketball, beginning in the upcoming school year.
Long said there were too few teams in Northwest Area’s class in District 2, thanks to school closures and mergers, to allow Northwest to stay competitive in it.
After the voting session, several students spoke about a petition to ban the wearing of the Confederate flag. They said that while signatures initially came quickly, those who supported wearing the flag pushed back, to the point that some who had signed asked to have their names removed out of “fear of repercussions.”
The speakers argued the presentation of the flag cannot be separated from the racism it symbolized, making any black students and others uncomfortable. They argued it is disruptive and should be banned.
“If Alabama can ban the confederate flag,” one girl said, “Why can’t Northwest Area?”
Bonczewski praised the students for their courage and eloquence and promised to take the petition and the request under advisement.
Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish