Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott said a Queens fifth-grader barred from reading his essay on gay marriage in front of the entire school “has the right” to present it — but not everyone has to hear it.
Walcott refused to say whether he supports PS 195 principal Berryl Bailey’s controversial decision to bar 10-year-old Kameron Slade from giving a speech on the issue yesterday.
Only after media inquiries did the Department of Education say that Slade could read his essay in a makeshift assembly scheduled for Monday — but that parents could opt their kids out.
“It’s something that the principal felt that she needed to do more due diligence with her parent community because of the topic of the speech itself,” said Walcott. “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.”
A letter sent home to parents was written to make it seem like Slade wasn’t being singled out.
It warned parents about other “societal” topics that would be discussed at Monday’s assembly — including seemingly innocuous issue like pollution and childhood obesity.