Expand the Port Allegany area to
include Port Allegany Junior-Senior High School alumni and former residents of
the community using social media and a BlogSpot run from Roulette, and there
were even more expressions of opinion.
The alleged acts for which Haskins
faces court action are indecent exposure and open lewdness, with a careless
driving charge thrown in. They are based on an alleged highway incident in
Mercer County, the forenoon of Good Friday.
Reactions from the blogosphere include
Biblical injunctions against judging, warnings about sin, quotations of the
Golden Rule, references to the presumption of innocence, calls for Haskins’
immediate firing, reminders of wrongdoing by other school figures, mentions of
Haskins’ accomplishments as a football coach, and remarks best summed up as “So
what?”
A few commenters have suggested some
kind of conspiracy or a scenario in which Haskins was framed, either by the
truck driver who claimed to have observed Haskins’ behavior on the highway, or
by locals out to get him.
Hundreds of comments, nearly all
unsigned, accumulated on a Roulette-based news and advertising BlogSpot site.
Thursday a Facebook page called “Support Bob Haskins” was created, and quickly
drew many posts and hundreds of views and “likes.” Its “About” statements says,
“This page is for those who stand behind Mr. Haskins as he goes through these
allegations. Innocent until proven guilty. Supporting someone does not mean
condoning any behavior.”
Haskins had figured in another local
controversy in recent weeks, when it became known that he had received a
reprimand or negative letter in his permanent employment file because he had
allowed a student-made video containing “implied” profanity or vulgarity to be
shown in class.
Three ninth graders had created the
video to fulfill project required by the course, using as their topic the
era of moonshining, in the Prohibition era. Their Hilarious History video has
also been posted on video. It featured some broad comedy, with the students
playing the roles of backwoods still operators and a government enforcer trying
to arrest them and destroy the hootch. It was videotaped on a hillside above
Laurel Lane.
Possibly in imitation of a reality show
about moonshining, the short video contained many “bleeps,” creating the effect
that the hillbillies were using language not allowed on television. This was
seen by school administrators as crossing the line, in student behavior. They
ordered that the students’ grade be lowered to 85; Haskins had given it an A.
Parents, and possibly students, had
vowed to attend the March 25 school board meeting to protest students’ having
their grades lowered as a punishment, and to state their approval of Haskins’
teaching. That committee-of-the-whole meeting was canceled, though, as the
“fourth Monday” meeting is, fairly frequently.
Then came Haskins’ arrest, during the
Easter holiday. He is currently suspended with pay. Some supporters say they
plan to attend the April 8 board meeting, set for 7 p.m. in the elementary
school “Blue Room.”
Haskins is scheduled to appear before
Magisterial District Judge D. Neil McEwen on April 24.
