Mitchel Dipzinski, a 2015 graduate of AHS, was speaking on behalf of members of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender and Queer plus community when a commotion broke out.

APS parent Michael Mantas was moving toward the microphone, where Dipzinski was speaking, when another individual attending the meeting blocked his path.

“Get out of my way. Don’t touch me,” Mantas shouted.

Officers with the Alpena Police Department and deputies with the Alpena County Sheriff’s Office separated both men, while the tension of the altercation could be felt in the crowd.

News Photo by Crystal Nelson Alpena Public Schools Superintendent Dave Rabbideau addresses a portion of the crowd Tuesday at the district’s town hall meeting in the high school’s front oval.

It was not immediately clear what or how the altercation started.

However, prior to the altercation, a woman blocked Mantas’ wife from filming the town hall. After the altercation, half a dozen people positioned themselves in front of her camera while she was filming in a public space.

Assistant Superintendent Meaghan Gauthier at the beginning of the meeting asked the public not to take video and post it somewhere else. However, deputies said following the altercation that filming was allowed.

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APD officers refused to comment on the incident.

When the tension settled down, Dipzinski was able to finish his comments and the meeting continued without incident.

The town hall meeting is the first time district officials have addressed concerns that community members have brought before the board of education.

Members of the community have asked members of the board to make their positions known on a wide variety of topics, including mask mandates, vaccine mandates, climate change, critical race theory, and transgender issues.

However, the board of education has a policy that it does not respond to public comment during the meeting.

About 200 people showed up for the town hall meeting where they were able to engage in a dialogue with Superintendent Dave Rabbideau and Gauthier.

Rabbideau was able to discuss concerns for critical race theory.

“It’s not in the standards and we don’t teach it,” he said. “It’s a high-level post-secondary theory that would be pretty much lost on most K-12 students.”

However, Rabbideau said the district does have a controversial issues policy where teachers can — when it’s age appropriate — teach controversial subjects if they can present both sides of the issue. He said the policy specifically says that a teacher cannot bring their personal beliefs into the conversation.

District officials were also able to discuss concerns parents had about transgender students using bathrooms, and possibly locker rooms, that aligned with their gender identity.

Alpena High School Principal Romeo Bourdage said students choose the bathrooms they use, but also that there are unisex bathrooms, which are available to any students.

He said transgender students using locker rooms is a different story though, as district officials are working through that with the Michigan High School Athletic Association.

As the meeting was wrapping up, Rabbideau thanked community members for attending the town hall.

“Remember what our story is,” he said. “We just spent two hours engaged in highly controversial topics, passionate topics, whatever you want to describe, and it went amazingly well.”

District officials plan to have another town hall meeting on Sept. 14, although a time and location have yet to be determined.

The public can also address the board of education during its Aug. 16 meeting, scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at Central Office, located at 2373 Gordon Road. The board allows the public two opportunities to comment.

Alpena News Intern Ben Ackley contributed to this report.