Parents at New Jersey School Hope Meeting Will Assuage Obama Song Concerns

The mother of a second-grader says she hopes to get some answers Wednesday night as to why her daughter was videotaped with the rest of her class singing the praises of President Obama at a New Jersey elementary school last spring.

Andrea Ciemnolonski, of Burlington, N.J., said she'll attend a 6 p.m. "work session" held by the Burlington Township Board of Education, which she hopes will assuage her concerns regarding security at the B. Bernice Young Elementary School.

"I still have questions," Ciemnolonski told Foxnews.com. "Mostly I just want to see what the school is going to do to improve security at the school. Clearly, if the children were videotaped, there's something wrong. They should not have been -- that's not permitted."

Ciemnoloski's 8-year-old daughter was one of roughly 20 children captured on a YouTube video singing songs overflowing with campaign slogans and praise for "Barack Hussein Obama," repeatedly chanting the president's name and celebrating his accomplishments, including his "great plans" to "make this country's economy No. 1 again." Critics of the videotape have complained that the performance was tantamount to indoctrination of young children.

The song was first performed as part of a Black History Month program in February and was reprised and videotaped without consent on March 23, when author Charisse Carney-Nunes visited the school in recognition of Women's History Month.

In a statement released Monday, the Burlington Township School District said parents had received prior notice of Carney-Nunes' visit and that one of her guests videotaped the performance "without knowledge or permission" of staff members. The district and the school have not replied to multiple requests for details of the notices sent to parents in advance of the performance.

District officials also dismissed allegations of indoctrination, saying there was nothing "systematic" about the classroom activity.

"After an investigation of this event, we found that no form of indoctrination took place, and there was no intent for indoctrination," the statement read. "There was no intention to make any political statement or promote a political agenda at all."

The statement continued, "We determined that there no was no malicious intent or behavior on anyone's part regarding this song."

Despite those claims, a crowd of approximately 75 people protested outside the school on Monday, chanting slogans like "No politics in the classroom" and "Reassign the principal."

Gina Pronchick, whose 8-year-old son Jimmy was also in the controversial video, claims school officials attempted to push their political views on the students. Her husband, Jim, said the investigation into the video has been far from thorough.

"There are really no findings here," he said in reference to Monday's statement. "The investigation hasn't produced anything."

To rectify the matter, Pronchick said he would like to see Principal Denise King reassigned and District Superintendent Christopher Manno reprimanded for the "one-sided" investigation. He also disputed the district's claims that notices of Carney-Nunes' visit, including lyrics of the controversial song, were sent home prior to the event.

"We never got the lyrics," he said. "Absolutely not."

Pronchick said his wife will attend Monday's meeting but hopes for answers are bleak.

"We're not expecting a lot," he said.

Multiple calls to Manno and King were not returned.

Liz Scott, a spokeswoman for the school district, confirmed that the work session will focus on the "issue" of the videotape.

"It will be on the agenda," she told Foxnews.com Monday. "We're ready for our public."

Scott said no protests are planned for the event to her knowledge and that it was unclear how many people would attend. She also said the district would be unavailable to produce copies of the notices purportedly sent out in advance of the March event.

The commissioner of New Jersey's Department of Education ordered a review on Sept. 24 following the posting of the video. In a statement to Foxnews.com, Education Department spokeswoman Beth Auerswald said Commissioner Lucille Davy directed Manno to review the matter. Auerswald said Davy wants to ensure that students can celebrate Black History Month without "inappropriate partisan politics in the classroom."

"In addition, it is our understanding the teacher in question retired at the end of the last school year," the statement continued.

Auerswald declined to indicate exactly what the review would entail, or its possible ramifications.

Ciemnoloski, meanwhile, said she doesn't think school officials intended to indoctrinate students with the song, but she added that's not the issue she is most concerned about.

"Someone wasn't paying attention to this author and her entourage, as it were," she said. "Someone needs to be keeping a closer eye on visitors in the school."