No Moment of Silence at Port Schools For 9/11 Victims?

With no official school board policy in place, Port Washington school administrators have been left to decide the best course of action for students regarding annual commemoration of the 9/11 tragedy — leaving some parents angry.

"In prior years at the commemoration of 9/11 there was a moment of silence at Schreiber High School," said resident Hank Ratner, at a school board meeting at the school Tuesday. "At 9 o'clock in the morning, I guess the bell rang, the loadspeaker announced there was a moment of silence and this year that didn't occur. That upsets me greatly."


The Project Wisdom character education program is currently in place at elementary, middle school and high school levels to reflect on kindness, courage, respect for 9/11 victims — although it has not been publicly approved by the school board, according to district officials.

Board President Karen Sloan told Patch, 9/11 commemoration activities in the school district have "evolved' in recent years with administrators operating on "what they feel is best" for kids.

"It was one of those things that wasn't policy so people just sort of did what they wanted," said Sloan.

Project Wisdom's approach aims to allow students to reflect on "what's really important in life" by allowing exploration of the concept that positive results can sometimes occur through tragedy, according to the project's website.

The program makes no mention of the cause of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks launched by the Islamic group al-Qaeda in 2001 which killed nearly 3,000 people, or the ongoing threat of terrorism to the nation today. 

"This is an opportunity to turn something negative into a positive activity by honoring the the good work of others and by doing good work ourselves," reads the program's 9/11 message to students.

At Tuesday's meeting, school Superintendent Kathleen Mooney said Port Washington is using a "different" way to address the 9/11 issue.

"Some children sometimes feel fearful and have anxiety surrounding 9/11," said Mooney. "The day is observed, of course, because we have respect for those who lost their lives for their country."

At Schreiber, the principal and the administration talked to the staff and the students before deciding to use the technology to teach them the importance of the day, according to Mooney.

The 9/11 commemoration issue came to the attention of school board members within the past few days, according to Sloan.

"I think it's worthy of discussion," Sloan told Patch.