06/02/14 Concerns from some parents and students at Lincoln Junior High in Plymouth led Principal Reid Gault to make a difficult decision. The annual school play was supposed to be presented over this past weekend; however, it was cancelled only days before.
According to Gault, editing that had been discussed and approved at the very beginning to the play, The Odd Couple, wasn’t done completely. Gault said, “The timing of the cancellation was not good, but in reading the final script that was being used, I felt it was not consistent with community standards and values.”
Gault said the play had been chosen by director, TJ McNally, to challenge students academically and production-wise. “After reading the script, I determined that the subject matter was more mature than the community and I would find appropriate and not in keeping with high values and high standards.” he said.
Gault said he was apprised of concerns only last week after getting phone calls from both parents of students who were in the production and meeting with one parent who has a child that would be viewing the play, as well as some students in the play.
According to Gault, he notified the 16 students involved in the production by letter with an explanation of the reason for the cancellation and used the Plymouth Corporation’s School Reach to notify other LJH students and their parents. A notice of the cancellation also appeared on the Plymouth Schools website on June 30. That notice contained the following: “We apologize for
any inconvenience this may cause students and families.”
Carol Anders Correspondent
