Sounding Board -- Michael Vossen

This letter is in response to concerns we received from our school

community regarding the January performance of “Grease” by the drama

department at Newport Harbor High School.

While performing the popular musical, two racial slurs written into

the script were spoken. Allegedly, there was also an inappropriate sexual

remark made during one of the performances that was not part of the

original script.

On behalf of the administration at Harbor High, I would like to take

this opportunity to apologize to our school community. We never set out

to offend any individuals within our community and truly regret if this

play insulted anyone.

Displaying respect for our cultural diversity at Harbor High is a

priority of our faculty, staff and students. It is important to inform

our community that everything we do on our campus needs to reflect this

priority.

Regarding any inappropriate language that may have been conveyed

within the production, we will make every effort to ensure that our plays

do not contain any type of offensive material because our plays are

intended for the entire school community.

In cases where the theme of a performance leans more to an adult

level, our intent is to make every effort to ensure that language is

still appropriate for all ages.

Our school is here to serve the public and to consistently demonstrate

the qualities one expects from an outstanding academic institution. If we

ever display anything less, we would like to be informed of it. Once

again, on behalf of Harbor High, I extend sincere apologies to our

community.

* MICHAEL VOSSEN is the principal at Newport Harbor High School.