Three and a half hours after the Thursday, May 14, Mingus Union School District Governing Board meeting began, about 80 people sat and stood around the high school’s theater listening to people who weren’t able to speak during the meeting.
They included current and former students, parents, colleagues and communitymembers who know MUHS theater director James Ball, speaking in response to comments made during the public comment portion of the board workshop on April 23.
Residents Jackie Tutor and Catherine DeLaney, stated April 23 that Ball was indoctrinating high schoolers and the choosing of A Troupe of Ridiculous Thespians’ latest show “Something Rotten!” was “immoral” and “degenerate” for its portrayal of homosexual characters.
Both said the play was brought to their attention by others who had seen it. They didn’t say they’d seen it themselves.
“You’ve turned a blind eye to an alleged homosexual drama teacher grooming kids to be sexually abused and indoctrinated,” DeLaney said. “This has to stop now. You need to censure him and tell him his choices in school plays must stop showing homosexuality and rated-X content.”
The play, which featured the Bottom brothers trying to outshine William Shakespeare by putting on a musical, is rated PG13 and featured a song called “Bottom’s Gonna Be On Top.” Nick Bottom is a well-known comic relief character from Shakespeare’s 1596 comedy “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” and is the lead actor of Pyramis in theplay-within-a-play.
During the April 23 work session, the board moved on without addressing the comments.
About 150 people crammed in the school’s library for the regular meeting on May 14. Thirty requests for comment were submitted before the board ran out of forms.
Board Member Will David made a motion to modify to minutes to include a more detailed description of the comments made, and note the board did nothing. The vote, seconded by newest member Matthew Chavez, was unanimous.
“The present minutes as listed, to me, don’t adequately capture the gravity of the meeting that occurred on the 23rd of April,” he said. “Since it’s part of the documentation into the future, I think it’s important to correct the record.”
One parent of a former ATORT member, Katie Ventura, said the claims against Ball shouldn’t be considered.
“James Ball is a professional who has excellent student engagement and adheres to educational standards of equity and inclusion,” she said. “Theater requires stepping into different perspectives, which directly combats prejudice. Allowing outside groups to dictate who is welcomed in a classroom, or whether Shakespeare or any other play, for that matter, is appropriate, actively harms our children.”
The school has a committee that reviews plays on a rolling basis that includes administration, the principal, teachers and community members. Ball has taught ATORT and choir at Mingus since 2007.
The agenda allotted 30 minutes for public comment and after 11 speakers, nine of whom directly defended Ball, Dave Morris criticized Ball and “Something Rotten!” saying he left half way through because of jokes and attacks on the Bible.
Paula Herald said she was sorry to Ball, but giving credence to the comments was the wrong move.
“Because they weren’t taking action, they, again, could not speak during the meeting,” said Herald, the last speaker during the public comment portion.
About 20 people lined up to speak following the meeting. Stephen Renard, a physics teacher who helps out with the school’s productions, said board Policy BEDH Paragraph D, states the board can respond to criticism of board members, staff personnel or other persons in attendance or absent at the end of open call.
“The statement that James Ball is an alleged homosexual drama teacher … and accuse him of sexual abuse,” he said in the theater after open call ended, “These aren’t viewpoints, these aren’t opinions, they’re lies. Falsehoods. Possibly career-ending defamations to which they bore witness, and under any definition of the word, it was criticism.”
Renard said he didn’t know if the board members were aware of this part of the policy, but plans to speak again at the next board meeting to ensure they do.
“Make no mistake, I am criticizing them for their silence,” Renard said. “So now they have the opportunity to respond. You have that choice before you. Remember, David made that choice tonight, and I thank him. Now the rest of them have that same choice.”
