Opinion: Mike Morris’ Return Announcement, Another Lost Opportunity To Solve Problems And Build Trust

The brief announcement, unexpected by most Amherst residents, that School Superintendent Mike Morris was returning to work yesterday (7/13) did nothing to assuage the growing frustration, anxiety, and anger of members of the Amherst Regional Public Schools (ARPS) community, who, over the last two years have struggled, mostly without success, to get the district leadership to address charges of discrimination and bullying at Amherst Regional Middle School (ARMS) and to correct the toxic environment in that building that discouraged or prevented staff allies from protecting children who were in danger.

Mike Morris returned to work on Thursday offering no acknowledgement of the crisis that continues to roil the district. Nor did he offer any indication that the crisis is on his radar. One would think that, given the damage that this debacle has caused to the reputation of Amherst schools and to trust between leadership and their constituents, addressing dysfunction in the schools would be at the top of the Superintendent’s’ to-do list. But all his brief announcement said was that he was back and he was going to begin discussions with principals about planning for the fall term. 

Will that planning include formulating and then putting into place protocols to ensure that students in every ARPS building will be safe and have effective recourse if they experience bullying or discrimination? That’s hard to know; but if Morris is thinking about this, as are so many folks in Amherst, he gave no indication.

Does Morris have any concern that parents who brought well-documented charges of bullying and discrimination to district leadership were disparaged and disbelieved and to this day are doubted by some members of the School Committee (SC)? Does he have anything he’d like to say to the children and parents who were harmed by the failure of school leadership to take their pleas seriously? Apparently not, or he likely would have made that a priority.

Morris’ return signaled to me a return to business as usual, that is, of stonewalling and gaslighting and ignoring parents and children and staff and prioritizing protecting those in power.

Sadly, this was a profoundly missed opportunity. If Morris wanted to get off to a good start, to reset the terms, to heal his relationship with an untrusting public, he might have done so by offering an apology for all that went down last year. Or he might have acknowledged the pain that remains in the community. Or he might have pledged that whatever was not working last year is going to get fixed. But he did none of that. Morris had the opportunity to make clear to the public that he takes the ongoing crisis seriously, that he shares the concerns of the community and that he intends to ensure that the schools are safe for every child. And he could tell us some of the things that he hoped to do to make that happen. But we heard none of it. This is the antithesis of leadership.

And while Morris’ tripped on his re-entry to the ARPS community, the School Committee had the opportunity to set a new tone, one of transparency and accountability and trust, in the rollout of Morris’ return. That return was certain to be greeted with suspicion and the School Committee might have been intentional in anticipating the concerns of the community and purposeful in speaking about them. But they too tripped. Crickets from them.

So here are some questions for them — reflecting things that they might have done and things they might still do.

Ten Questions For ARPS Leadership About Mike Morris’ Return

WHY has Mike Morris returned to work before the accusations and charges against him have been fully investigated?

WHY has Mike Morris returned to work when the SC asserted that there could be no discussion of any investigation of Morris, or of his possible suspension, dismissal, or resignation, until the completion of the Title IX investigation?

HOW do these outstanding and unresolved charges impact Morris’ ability to fulfill his duties?

WHAT plans are in place or will be put in place to ensure that all accusations against Morris are thoroughly investigated, producing results that the community will be able to trust?

WAS the SC aware of Morris’ planned return and if so did they make any requests or suggestions on how best to execute that return in a way that would repair some of the existing damage — and if so, was their input heeded?

WHY was there no acknowledgement from Morris of the harm experienced by some students, parents, and staff?

WHY was there no pledge to ensure that Amherst schools will be a safe place and that the failures of the last school year will not be repeated?

WHY was there no comprehensive statement from the district or the SC addressing all of the complexities of Morris’ return?

WHY was there no press conference on the occasion of Morris’ return to address the questions and concerns of the public?

WHERE is the transparency and forthrightness and accountability to which the SC claims to be committed?