Typically, a Beaver Area school board meeting doesn’t draw too much attention, but September 17, dozens of protesters descended on Beaver Area High School in response to a Facebook post made by community member Luke Beradelli. The post alleged that high school principal Steve Wellendorf was put on administrative leave over religious differences with the district’s superintendent Carrie Rowe.

Though rumors have swirled over the subject, neither the school board nor Dr. Rowe have given any indication publicly on why Mr. Wellendorf was put on leave, other than saying that it is a "personnel issue."

This lack of information did not stop protestors from coming to the school board meeting to support perceived slights against Mr. Wellendorf after being encouraged by a Beradelli Facebook post. In it, Beradelli alleged that Mr. Wellendorf's association with Young Life, a nationwide Christian organization, was the reason for him being put on leave. Berardelli encouraged supporters of Mr. Wellendorf and Christian values to show up in "tremendous numbers" and demand that Dr. Rowe's contract not be renewed for the following school year.

The rally was scheduled an hour before the school board meeting, which began at 7:30 p.m.

Due to a larger-than-expected crowd, the meeting was moved from its usual venue of the little theater to the auditorium.

Dr. Rowe began the meeting by addressing Mr. Beradelli and the protestors directly.

"I’m gay," she began, "I wanted to say that because that’s probably why most of you are here tonight."

This statement was met with jeers from the protestors and applause from those there to support Dr. Rowe.

After Dr. Rowe's speech, the floor was opened for questions.

Next to speak was Mr. Beradelli. Though he requested that the board reinstate Mr. Wellendorf, he did not follow through with his request that the board cancel Dr. Rowe's contract as he claimed he would in his Facebook post. He also said that this is not the Beaver Area he knew and called for unity within the town, a call which was, again, lost in both jeers and applause.

As the night continued, students voiced their opinions to the board. The first was senior Ben Whiting who spoke about separation of church and state, followed by senior Dominick Reagan who spoke about how he believed the protestors were there only to push their personal agenda instead of raising legitimate concerns about Mr. Wellendorf being put on leave, and finally junior Abigail Kohrmann who expressed disappointment in her community for their lack of civility and respect.

Mixed reactions were the main characteristic of the night, with each speaker being met with near-equal amounts of support and disdain, with both the pro-Rowe students and pro-Wellendorf taking part, reactions not lost on the students.

"No one had enough respect to let someone voice their opinion without verbally attacking them. I was completely disgusted," said Kohrmann.

Whiting stated, "I received some heckling when I gave my speech. However, I ignored it, and I did my best to ensure that it would not get in the way of the message of my speech."

With all the divisiveness in the room, it came as a surprise that there were things that most students present could agree on.

For example, when asked about Dr. Rowe's speech, students had nothing but praise for her.

"I thought Carrie Rowe's speech was fantastic and took immense bravery," Reagan said.

Junior Jackson Thomas said, "It was very brave and inspirational in a way for her to do that."

However, consensus around Mr. Beradelli's appeal to the board was less unified.

"I thought it was very dumb," said senior Zoltan Nemith, "He didn’t say anything of much relevance to be honest."

"I appreciated Luke's kind words about Mr. Wellendorf. Just as Dr. Rowe, Mr. Beradelli spoke about what he was passionate about," Kohrmann admitted.

"I’m glad he left out some of his other promises he mentioned, like asking her [Dr. Rowe] to resign," Thomas stated.

Kohrmann made the last public comment of the evening. Initially, Kohrmann was uncertain about speaking at the meeting but decided to speak by the end of it. In an emotional speech, Kohrmann called for civility and respect from her community when discussing the issues.

"What ultimately made me decide to speak was the utter lack of respect from children, adults, students, parents, and community members alike. Adults were spewing hate at children, but the children were spewing it right back."

Weeks after the event, the reason for Mr. Wellendorf's paid leave remains a mystery, with the community is still divided over the issue. However, Kohrmann believes that the community still has time to heal after an event like this.

"What tears us apart isn’t the situations or the controversial topics; it’s the way we choose to handle them. The best way to fix a situation is to bring people together with different opinions that all share a mutual respect for each other. If everyone respects each other's opinions and has one goal in mind of reaching a decision or answer, that is how issues get resolved," stated Kohrmann.