Surprise MACE protests perplex NC administration
Toting signs calling for the removal of NC’s principal, Joseph “Bucky” Horton, four men stood outside the school on Tuesday afternoon. Disclosing little more than their affiliation with the Metro Association of Classroom Educators, one protester explained, “we can’t really go into detail because of personnel issues.”
May 18, 2016
As Tuesday’s final bell ended NC’s school day, students and staff flooding out of the building encountered four men touting signs calling for removal of the school’s principal, Joseph “Bucky” Horton.
“They didn’t tell us they were coming. They didn’t tell us any specific issues,” said Horton. The group claiming responsibility for the protest, the Metro Association of Classroom Educators (MACE), had not initiated prior attempts to alert NC of its concerns.
Traffic built up along Old 41 Highway in front of NC as cars slowed to witness the spectacle. Content in picketing across from the school, the group declined faculty invitations to enter the building and meet with Horton.
Although they refused to disclose their names and specific reasoning for the protest, citing “personnel issues,” the group openly proclaimed their affiliation with MACE. One member explained the men organized for “just protesting the leadership.”
NC administration received no warning prior to the arrival of protestors from MACE, a group identifying itself as a teachers union. Citing the lack of communication surrounding the protestors’ identity and arguments, Horton said, “in all honesty we still don’t know what they want or what they were doing it for.”
The demonstrations lack of clear purpose caused confusion for administrators attempting a response to the situation. Horton and fellow administrators expressed frustration over the men’s decision to forgo entering the school and discussing their issues with the man whom their signs addressed.
Assistant principal Stephen Revard acknowledged that MACE exercised their right to free speech, but feels they failed to do so effectively: “I don’t know that I would even call it a ‘protest,’ so much as just random people from an outside organization with signs expressing some level of frustration that they couldn’t really pin point and didn’t want to sit down to have a conversation.”
Tuesday’s demonstration constituted MACE’s first blip on NC’s radar, which alerted the school to the group advertising itself as “the kick-ass teachers union.” Proclaiming itself an assembly strictly comprised of teachers, MACE’s business cards advertise that the group “devours administrators who abuse teachers.”
Public confusion over the incident extends to the NC administration as well, which has yet to receive direct communication from MACE about specific complaints. Horton and vice principals explain the group may even return, but they lack any knowledge about the situation beyond speculation.
The protesters’ decision to provide minimal information surrounding their identities and purpose did not diminish the resulting discussion and rumors surrounding the event. NC students swarmed to Twitter with questions and assertions about the protest, which eventually devolved into an argument between multiple factions.
The public interpreted the demonstration as a protest by individuals directly associated with NC, prompting select students to tweet expressions of support for Horton. In confusion, several individuals cited specific issues they felt would prompt protest of the principal’s administration.
Horton explained that the group’s direct address of his name did not bother him, he instead finds issue with the resulting association with NC. The principal feels Tuesday’s events portray NC as a school plagued with cleavages that do not actually exist.
MACE’s opposition concerned NC less than the resulting appearance of discord within the school. Acknowledging the direct impact on NC, Revard said, “in situations like this, all we can do is just rally as a community- a North Cobb community.”
