WATERTOWN — Students and community members are pushing back after the Watertown school board voted to ban a piece of music tied to the Stonewall uprising from the upcoming spring concert.
Students at Watertown High School staged a walkout on Wednesday to protest the school board's decision to remove a song from the spring concert that is tied to LGBTQ+ history. The board voted Tuesday night to ban the piece.
Watch: Why students and community members are pushing back against the Watertown school board for its decision to band a piece of music connected with the Stonewall uprising from being played at an upcoming spring concert.
“This is a perfect example of what everyone here ran on, and that's ending indoctrination and radical curriculum,” Watertown school board Vice President Sam Ouweneel said.
The music at the center of the controversy is titled "A Mother of A Revolution" which is composed by Omar Thomas. It honors a transgender activist and the 1969 Stonewall uprising in New York City.
Board Clerk Tammy Fournier defended the board's decision and directed criticism at the school's music teacher.
"I do think everyone should be appalled but it should be at your music teacher," Fournier said.
DeWayne Roberson led the Watertown High School band program for 16 years before retiring. He is among those defending the current band director. He was at the meeting Tuesday.
"I flew out of my chair. I stood up, and my anger was intense," Roberson said. "It's just so wrong to accuse him of anything here."
In October, the current band director emailed parents, offering them the chance to opt their children out if they found the piece controversial. Roberson says the music is appropriate for the advanced program.
"That piece of music is well versed for that top group," Roberson said. "'A Mother of A Revolution' is being performed around the state right now."
The current band director declined to speak on camera. Roberson says the director is beloved by students.
"That's why I was so comfortable that I could retire, because I knew I was turning it over to him," Roberson said.
Roberson, students and parents say they have seen a shift in the board's ideology over the last couple of years. The decision was disappointing for them, but not surprising.
"A lot of it is shifting, I'll be political, it's shifting to the right, and it's shifting to the extreme right," Roberson said.
District parent Jessica Thomm echoed that concern.
"It's just becoming more and more narrow, the voices that are being honored and heard are only the ones that align with those viewpoints," Thomm said.
Roberson said the pressure of that shift affects everyone in the school community.
"The students see how the teachers have to shift to teach something different from what they were doing before. And when that pressure is put on, it affects everybody," Roberson said.
The school board has not responded to a request for further comment. The spring concert is set for May 18, but "A Mother of a Revolution" is banned.
"I think the students are at a point now where they want to get back to peace," Roberson said.
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