Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott said a Queens fifth-grader who was barred from reading an essay he wrote on gay marriage to the entire school “has the right” to present it — but not everyone has to listen.
Walcott refused to say whether he supports PS 195 principal Beryl Bailey’s controversial decision to bar 10-year-old Kameron Slade from giving a contest-winning speech yesterday advocating respect for same-sex marriage.
Following media inquiries, the Department of Education said Slade could read his essay in a makeshift assembly Monday — but parents can opt to pull their kids out.
“This extra day will give her the ability to reach out to those parents to make them aware of the content of the speech — because we’re talking about an elementary school,” Walcott said.