Is it too much to expect that a meeting of a town’s board of education be solely committed to focusing on the needs of the students, without politics (domestic or international) entering the building (“Clifton BOE Anti-Israel Comments Draw Criticism,” August 19, 2021)?

What happened to the simplicity of “rocks, paper, scissors,” now having devolved into cutting remarks about Israel by members of a school board, elected to serve the students and their tax-paying parents? It seems that board members believe their role has expanded to include political commentary.

There is no good reason why politics must trample immediate and future issues relative to the American classroom, especially biased commentary that undermines the open hospitality that every student registered in a classroom has a right to expect. Yet members of the Clifton Board of Education chose to insert their personal politics into school board matters, as if they are representatives of UNRWA rather than public servants within an American public school system.

This obvious attempt by the board members to usurp their elected positions—and the public’s trust—must not be entertained, else their vindictive words trespass into a schoolroom whose students have no acquired taste for the intrusion.

If elected members of a school board in America cannot avoid making mincemeat of the country’s foreign policy during meetings, their terms on the board MUST come to an end.