By Donald Gilpin

Protesters — two or three each day—have demonstrated outside Princeton Middle School (PMS) during the past two weeks, calling for revisions to the HiTOPS curriculum on diversity and inclusion.

Holding up signs stating “Stop HiTOPS” and protesting the “indoctrinating” of students, the parent demonstrators have stayed for about 30 minutes each morning on the sidewalk in front of the school, not on school grounds. The police have been in attendance, but there has been no disruption or violence.

On January 12, the second day of their demonstrations, the protesters faced a counter-protest of about 10 parents supporting HiTOPS and the need for LGBTQIA and racial literacy education.

One of the demonstrators, Luke Alberts, father of twins in the sixth grade at PMS, stated that the two or three parents who showed up each day were part of a larger group of 15 or 16 concerned parents, who are apparently organizing under the name of Parents for Responsible Educational Policy and are in the process of creating a website to help present their message.

Alberts described them as “a very grassroots movement that has come together in a short period of time.” He emphasized that the group supports the pro-LGBTQIA and anti-bullying aspects of the HiTOPS curriculum, but objects to other aspects of the broader racial literacy instruction.

“What we have a problem with is how they’re presenting it, specifically relying on critical theory and a narrative of oppressor and oppressed,” Alberts said in a January 22 phone conversation. “Our goal is not to kick HiTOPS out of the school. Our job is to make parents more aware of the material they are presenting. In a perfect world HiTOPS would amend its curriculum to exclude the entire oppressor-oppressed narrative that permeates so much of their work.”

HiTOPS Executive Director Lisa Shelby noted in a January 22 email, “HiTOPS works to empower young people through facilitating school-based sex education and educator training, providing educational/social support for LGBTQ+ youth, and building affirming and inclusive
communities.”

She continued, “We have been hired by Princeton Public Schools as the content expert to help them implement the diversity and inclusion mandates required by the State of New Jersey.”

Princeton Public Schools (PPS) Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Kimberly Tew commented in a January 23 email, “In our effort to facilitate open and honest communication with parents, we have shared lesson plans in advance so parents and caretakers can preview the content their students will be learning.”

She went on, “We have met in large and small groups to hear concerns and answer questions. We appreciate and respect the fact that community members have varying points of view.”

In November, in the wake of a controversy instigated by an online video promulgated by the right-wing advocacy group Project Veritas, Tew sent out a letter to PPS parents regarding PMS’ partnership with HiTOPS. Tew noted at the time that the PPS administration had met with HiTOPS several times about lessons to be taught in the middle school Pathways courses and that former PMS counselor Thomas Foley would be leading all sessions and PPS staff would be present during delivery of the lessons. Those lessons cannot be opted-out of, she said, because they are a part of the state mandates.

Junglien Chen, one of the parent protesters, criticized the PPS for being one-sided in its presentation of the curriculum. “What they’re teaching is problematic,” he said. “The school is not being neutral in terms of politics. They need to explain both sides and teach children to be critical so that in the future they can decide for themselves.”

Alberts reiterated, “Our beef is not with the LGBTQ community. We are supportive of LGBTQ rights. We are sympathetic and we are against bullying, but we have problems with how HiTOPS is presenting its work.”

The demonstrators have urged parents to attend the next Board of Education meeting on January 30 to voice their concerns and demand that the HiTOPS curriculum be changed.