More than 100 shut out of Newark school meeting after auditorium fills to capacity
Published: Tuesday, March 22, 2011, 8:01 PM Updated: Tuesday, March 22, 2011, 8:14 PM
Angry residents left outside pound on the doors as hundreds of parents, students, teachers and city officials debate the merits of a proposal to meld almost a dozen charter and district schools next year during a standing-room-only meeting of the Newark Public School Advisory Board at Barringer High School. The school auditorium was at capacity and police and school security kept dozens of attendees outside.NEWARK — Chants of "Let us in!" rang out among the more than 100 people who turned out for Newark's monthly school board meeting who were barred from entering Barringer High School's auditorium.
Security guards at the entrances said the room was over capacity based on fire safety codes. But for the parents, teachers and students pressing the school's blue metal doors, this was an unacceptable excuse.
"If it's an open forum, it should be open to the public," said Lydia Murcado, a Newark teacher whose children attend Catholic schools. "They should at least have speakers out here so we can hear what's going on inside."
Instead those waiting by the doors were treated to speakers blasting support for Kris Pernell, a