Just imagine where we’d be if Superintendents in New Hampshire were this focused on academic excellence in their public schools!!
Dear Superintendent Costa,
I was made aware of an incident that took place recently in the school district where one of the teachers sent a letter home to parents apologizing for what is now being described as a mistake. This mistake involved a spring concert where someone approved the theme “From the River to the Sea.” You were quoted in the Seacoast Online article saying it “was mistakenly chosen as the theme for Hampton Academy’s upcoming spring concert.”
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Given the current events happening in the U.S. on college campuses, it’s shocking that the staff was not aware of this phrase, and no one else in the school caught it. You also mentioned that you took responsibility.
Maybe this was a mistake, but it does remind me of the time when you facilitated Hampton students meeting with BLM. You were gleeful on that first Zoom call when you helped BLM access Hampton students.
BLM has not hidden their vile statements, which also include the statement “From the River to the Sea.”
According to the American Jewish Committee:
This is a rallying cry for terrorist groups and their sympathizers, from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) to Hamas, which called for Israel’s destruction in its original governing charter in 1988 and was responsible for the October 7, 2023 terror attack on Israeli civilians, murdering over 1,200 people in the single deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. It is also a common call-to-arms for pro-Palestinian activists, especially student activists on college campuses. It calls for the establishment of a State of Palestine from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, erasing the State of Israel and its people. Another phrase “Globalize the Intifada,” which uses the Arabic word for “uprising” or “shaking off,” also calls for widespread violence against both Israelis and Jews across the globe (see “Globalize the Intifada”).
The position from BLM is very clear and is not one of neutrality where lives on both sides of this conflict are valued.
At Brooklyn pro-Palestine rally, calls to eliminate both Israel and US
At a pro-Palestinian, pro-Black Lives Matters demonstration in Brooklyn this week, participants called to eliminate the Jewish state as well as the United States, amid chants of “Death to Israel,” “Death to America” and “From Gaza to Minnesota, globalize the Intifada!”
Given your role in helping BLM access students in the Hampton district, I have to question what is going on under your leadership.
I have not seen any condemnation of this kind of hatred by anyone representing BLM. Why haven’t you addressed any of this with the community? By connecting students with BLM, you appear to be helping Hampton students learn this message of hate directed at Jews. I think it’s time to address what you have also done in this district.
Pursuant to the Right to Know Law (RSA, 91-1), I am requesting public access, within five business days, to the governmental records:
1) COPIES of ALL communication (emails, text messages, etc.) between SAU90 and Black Lives Matter representatives.
Per RSA 91-A:4IV(C) If you deny any portion of this request, please cite the specific exemption used to justify the denial to make each record, or part thereof, available for inspection along with a brief explanation of how the exemption applies to the information withheld.
—
Ann Marie Banfield
TRUST REQUIRES TRANSPARENCY
Editors Note: For the record, this is the actual SAU90 district logo.
