UPDATE:Facing backlash, Glen Rock reverses decision not to join American Legion coloring contest

GLEN ROCK — The borough's public schools will not take part in this year's American Legion coloring contest because of concerns over the depiction of guns in the image provided, a district official says.

The New Jersey American Legion hosts the Americanism Award coloring contest for fourth- and fifth-graders around the state every year. Participating students color a picture, often distributed by posts to local schools, and winners are selected at the local, county and state levels.

This year, Glen Rock's American Legion post was told by school district officials that the image was “inappropriate,” said Ken Frank, Post 145 vice commander. Glen Rock students have participated in past years.

“We are very upset, and we feel disrespected,” said Frank, a veteran. “There wasn’t any reason given, and there hasn’t been another school in the state, that we’ve heard of, that’s refused to use the picture.”

Board of Education President Sharon Scarpelli clarified that it was an administrative decision, and that the board was informed of the decision.

"The administration had asked if they could be provided with a different picture. They were concerned over the display of guns in the picture," Scarpelli said in an email.

This year’s coloring page features the "Four Pillars of the American Legion," embodied in four service members and a banner recognizing the centennial of the veterans service organization. Three uniformed soldiers from 1919, 1965 and 2019, carrying guns from their respective eras, are pictured, along with a nurse from 1941. The page also contains the POW/MIA logo and a “battlefield cross,” a rifle stuck upward in the ground alongside a soldier’s boots and helmet.

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Frank said the post was notified by Hamilton School that the school would not participate unless a different image was available for contestants.

Superintendent Bruce Watson said it was a districtwide decision, but he did not specify the nature of the objection. The coloring contest was not discussed in open session during the board's Feb. 5 meeting and did not appear on the closed-session agenda.

If Glen Rock chooses not to participate, that is its prerogative, New Jersey American Legion Adjutant John Baker said, adding that the district is the first, to his knowledge, that voiced concerns.

The Legion has no plans to change the picture, as it is a veterans organization and includes pictures of the military, he said.

Frank said other veterans have told him they feel the district’s decision was disrespectful.

“This contest isn’t for us, it’s for the kids,” he said.

The deadline for counties to submit entries to the state is March 19, according to the American Legion’s website.

Email: grantm@northjersey.com