To the editor:

Should the Barrington community be concerned about a canceled play at BMS? Clearly Janice Black and the school administration forgot that we study many difficult and controversial events in history, mostly to learn from them.

Our school leadership allowed one parent’s personal views to prevent a group of 75-plus children and their families from experiencing and learning important historical lessons about racial equality. If Ms. Black did not want her child to participate in this Aqua Cluster play then she should have kept her child out of the event, while our school administrators should have supported our outstanding Aqua Cluster teachers.

We applaud the Aqua teachers, including Mary Roberts, and other Barrington Public School teachers who work very hard to teach our children about difficult and sometimes controversial topics. Their efforts allow our children to think critically, analyze different perspectives, and then hopefully act to solve problems.

We are disappointed that the BMS principal and the superintendent did not take a stronger position in support of such teaching and the teachers themselves. Perhaps others in the Barrington community share our concerns.

Perri and Jonathan Leviss

Barrington