One of the East Williston school district’s most beloved teachers is not going out without a fight from his current and former students.
The suspension of Wheatley School social studies teacher Matthew Haig two weeks ago — and the lack of public information about it — has caused a recent outcry among students, parents and graduates.
Wheatley junior Jonathan Taub and others in a public Facebook group with more than 1,700 members say Haig has always gone to great lengths to help his students as an educator and mentor, and some think he is being targeted as the school moves in what they see as a negative direction.
“People care about this man, and with good reason,” said Wes Berkowitz, a former Wheatley guidance counselor who has known Haig since 1985. “He’s been a phenomenal teacher, and again, being hit with this and not knowing the cause is extremely frustrating.”
Haig did not answer three phone calls from a Blank Slate Media reporter, and Berkowitz said his attorney has advised him not to speak with media about his case. District officials have not told anyone the reason for his suspension, including Haig himself, Berkowitz said.
Officials said privacy laws prohibit them from publicly discussing Haig’s case or any other individual personnel issue.
Because of its declination to release information about Haig’s case, many community members and Wheatley alumni have questioned the district’s transparency on social media and at Monday’s school board candidates forum.
Superintendent Elaine Kanas said the district otherwise shares everything it can, but in this case is bound by law and respect for Haig’s privacy rights.
“That’s the way you build trust with a community, is being able to share all the information you can with them,” Kanas said. “And I think this board shares, and as a district we really share, and issues of personnel we’re not able to share.”
Education law says a superintendent can suspend a teacher with pay until the next school board meeting in response to a complaint or allegation.
The affected teacher does not have to be interviewed, but must be allowed to present his or her case at a hearing if officials bring charges against him or her.
Haig, 57, has taught at Wheatley since 1985 and is known as a sometimes unconventional but “dynamic” teacher who cares deeply about his students, Berkowitz said.
On one occasion, Berkowitz said, Haig found a student who was skipping his class to work on art. He told her she could bring her artwork back to his classroom, but he needed her to be there, and she went with him, Berkowitz said.
Dozens of his former students have posted stories of how he affected their lives at Wheatley and beyond in the Facebook group, called “Free Mr. Haig.”
Taub also created a GoFundMe account that has raised more than $8,400 for Haig’s legal fees.
“This is a kind of guy who envelops history and makes it come alive for kids,” said Berkowitz, who retired from Wheatley in 2012.
Haig was also a Wheatley baseball coach, was involved with a faculty organization and was twice named Teacher of the Year, Berkowitz said.
Taub said he has struggled with his grades in the past year, but Haig always engaged him and made him feel “all the work he gives has a purpose.”
“He wants to make people that will change something for the world,” Taub said.
Many of the anecdotes are remembrances of Haig’s dedication to teaching and students’ lives.
Others express anger about his suspension and the district’s silence; some are a mix of both.
“He worked hard every day and did everything in his power to ensure ALL students (not only the ones in his classroom) received the absolute best education,” Doug Cohen wrote. “I can not fathom him having done something to deserve this treatment.”
Taub and some in the Facebook group have talked of tension between Haig and Wheatley principal Sean Feeney, whom Haig’s supporters say has focused too much on test scores and rankings and has unfairly targeted the teacher.
Feeney also declined to discuss Haig’s case or allegations, but said any “characterizations of a decline” of Wheatley or its educational standards in his time as principal are “not based on facts.”
Feeney has been publicly skeptical about the significance of national school rankings and signed a 2013 letter from Long Island principals questioning the weight of Common Core test scores.
“We are in different times, and I think we are much better for all of our students, not just a select few, and I’m very proud of what we’ve been able to do and the programs we’ve been able to offer and continue to offer,” Feeney said. “There’s a lot to be proud at the school.”
Many of Haig’s supporters who live outside the district said online that they plan to travel to Wheatley for the May 23 school board meeting.
At that meeting, the school board can vote to “prefer charges,” continuing the suspension and starting proceedings for a disciplinary hearing officiated by an impartial hearing officer or three-person panel.
School board Trustee David Keefe said at Monday’s event that the board will discuss the details of Haig’s case confidentially, but any vote must be public.
