Sikyang defends self, says concerns are valid

By Marconi Calindas
Reporter

Hopwood Junior High School counselor Nariany Sikyang, who set off a firestorm of controversy at the school with her allegations of discrimination by the school’s top officials, has expressed disappointment with some of her fellow teachers who have disputed her claims, saying she has documents to prove her accusations.

“Why is it they didn’t identify themselves, they didn’t mention their names,” she said referring to the four teachers who organized an interview with the media last week but requested anonymity. “They have issues within themselves. They’re taking it personally and are attacking me through the media.”

Sikyang, who came out with her allegations in a “letter of concern” to the Public School System administration, added that she is a secure person and if she were lying, the Education commissioner wouldn’t have entertained her concern.

“Our concerns are valid,” she said.

Besides Sikyang, 26 other teachers and staff of Hopwood signed the letter that accuses school principal Jim Brewer and vice principal Beth Nepaial of racial discrimination and unprofessional conduct. PSS has already begun an investigation on the issue.

Sikyang said the teachers who defended the Hopwood administration are friends of Nepaial. She also claimed that she has documents to prove her allegations.

She explained that she went directly to the media and PSS because she felt that every time she brought up issues with the Hopwood administration, it seemed as if they ignored and did not value her concerns, telling her that what she was raising were mere perceptions. “Like they’re not true,” she said. “I want people to know what’s going on in Hopwood. Why would I hide what is not right?”

Board of Education chair Roman C. Benavente said he met with PSS associate commissioner David M. Borja last Wednesday to briefly discuss the situation at Hopwood. Benavente said that PSS is taking this matter seriously to determine whether there is any truth to the allegations. He said PSS needs to resolve the Hopwood issue, whether there is merit to the complaint or not.

He said that PSS Human Resource Office personnel director Charlie Kenty is still gathering more data due to complexities of the issues raised.

“We are dealing with personnel issues here,” said Borja, expressing belief that the main problem is communication. “It is important to find a resolution.”

He said that some of the teachers who did not sign the petition have approached him and affirmed Sikyang’s allegations against Brewer and Nepaial. These teachers who did not sign the letter of concern were afraid of the school administration, Borja said, expressing sadness on this matter.

Despite this, Borja pointed out that Sikyang had undergone special trainings on how to handle changes, disputes, and grievance processes as a counselor. He believes that Sikyang should have applied what she has learned from the trainings she had attended.

Sikyang also said that she was not happy when the school administration terminated her from the leadership committee. But Borja said that Sikyang “is an educator, a counselor. Though she was asked to step down from the leadership committee, the fact still remains that she still is a leader of the school.”

Sikyang has alleged that she and colleagues are being discriminated against because of their ethnic origin and the fact that English is only a second language for them.

Borja, who had recommended Brewer and Nepaial to the school, said, he could not believe the two would do such a thing. He said that if these were true then he would side with her but Brewer is married to a Mexican-American and Nepaial is married to a local.

“They would not have hired other teachers of ethnic origin if the administration is discriminatory,” said Borja.

He stressed that PSS hires teachers based on their qualifications, not race or color, although basic requirements still need to be considered such as U.S. citizenship and a college degree. “We hire teachers based on their abilities, not on what their ethnicity is,” he said.

Sikyang said, though, that she is confident that parents are going to support them in this cause.

Inos earlier said that all this commotion is hurting the children but Sikyang pointed out that “if the teachers are happy, the students are going to be happy. That’s my philosophy.”