Due to Understanding and Appreciating the Middle East Day in the auditorium, the Theatre Entrance doors were locked after a-block, Thursday, May 9.
Principal Henry Turner said the administration made the decision to lock the doors because of the past controversy with Middle East Day at North.
“We locked the doors just because it has gotten a lot of attention in the media,” Turner said. “We don’t really have any concern.”
A film screened at last year’s Middle East Day drew criticism from outside groups.
Middle East Day is organized by students in the Middle East, Asia, Latin America (MEALA) course. The MEALA course and other history curricula have been accused of anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic bias. The school committee unanimously dismissed these concerns at a hearing in November.
According to senior Maya Mathews, one of the student organizers for the day and a student in MEALA, the doors were locked “due to outside of school interest” and “in order to keep out non-Newton North faculty, staff and students from entering the school today.”
Read more about the issue here:
https://thenewtonite.com/school-officials-respond-to-lawsuit-against-history-curriculum/