Perth Amboy High School students are “deeply saddened” that their superintendent, David Roman, and the Perth Amboy Board of Education are lying to residents. While Roman and the board insist Monday’s student walk-out over uncontrolled violence in the district was orchestrated by the Perth Amboy Federation, the local teachers union, the students say they planned the walk-out on their own to “express concerns over safety.”

In the letter below, the students also say that at an all-school Assembly organized by high school principal Melissa Espana, the superintendent was secretly listening over Google Meets while remaining in his office. When students spoke up about safety concerns, Espana rebuked them and told them to “do their homework.”

One other clarification: Roman and the school board, in their letter to the community, claimed they couldn’t hire armed security guards because “THE PA-AFT NEVER RESPONDED TO THE DISTRICT’S REQUEST TO NEGOTIATE A STIPEND FOR ARMING SEVERAL SECURITY  GUARDS.” The union responded that this was “flat-out false.” PA-AFT was proven correct last night  when Job Posting 23-031 was issued by the district, announcing that “the Board is accepting applications for the following positions,” including a Manager of Security Personnel, four “armed security officers,” and twelve “school security personnel.” (Does this district with over 10,000 students not have someone in charge of security as well as a dearth of security officers?) 

On PA-AFT’s Facebook page, teachers weigh in with multiple comments, including, “So sad that the superintendent does not have enough belief in the capabilities of our students! Shame on him & shame on the Board of Education for not having our students best interests at heart,” “Perhaps if the wizard [Roman] came out from behind the curtain and got to know what great kids attend PAHS, he would know what they are capable of!!,” and “Kudos to the students refusing to be bullied and setting the record straight.”

One inside source said of Roman and the school board, “they are struggling to support their lies.”

Here is the letter from the students: