Public Comment: Amherst Public Schools Systematically Violated Title IX

The following public comment was offered at the joint meeeting of the Regional School Committee and the Union 26 School Committee on August 23, 2023.

My name is Maxine Oland. I am the parent of a rising 9^th grader, who suffered significant gender discrimination at the middle school. 

First, I would like to say thank you to all of the members of the community, who spoke up and advocated for trans and non-binary kids when my family needed privacy and healing. It means the world to me that my community would fight for my kid, when I felt like I was fighting alone for so long.

Second, to all the parents that are upset that Mike Morris resigned- I am so glad that your children were not harmed in our schools. I too have an older child that went through our middle and high school and was allowed to thrive, and I know how many wonderful teachers and staff members we have in our district. 

But the reality is that our district systemically violated Title IX, and repeatedly failed our transgender and nonbinary kids. The law says that if the district knows about gender or sex discrimination, they are required to investigate and remedy the situation, even if a parent does not wish to make a formal Title IX complaint. 

Over the past year I personally notified the district multiple times of discrimination against my child by students and staff members. This includes communication directly with Dr. Morris. Each time, I asked for policy changes that would make our children safer and our schools more inclusive, and each time our administration failed to take action. The policy changes suggested by Morris this summer were 95% lifted from my letters, which I first sent to the district last September. 

I was patient and understanding for so long, even as my child’s mental health declined to the point of hospitalization. When your amazing child tells you that school makes them want to kill themself, but the district continues to ignore your pleas for policy and support, it is time to seek a change in leadership. I only filed the “official” Title IX complaint in April, after we had to remove our child from the school and it was clear that nothing would change without it.

Finally, to the school committee- I find your hypocrisy staggering—that you refused to place Morris on leave before the results of the Title IX report were released—but that you were willing to completely exonerate him, and offer him severance, before the release of that report. 

When community members and the teacher’s union asked you to place Mike Morris on leave, it was because we knew firsthand that Title IX was violated, and that Morris knew about it. If you didn’t know this, it’s because you refused to listen- to me, to the teachers and staff members that bravely spoke up, and to the many other students and parents who spoke with reporters and at meetings. 

I understand that Morris has been a good leader at many times in the past, and I have previously supported him. But he did—through his inaction—allow children to be hurt. He allowed my child to be profoundly damaged. I implore the school committee to make sure Morris does not have decision-making power regarding the results of the Title IX investigation. I do not trust him to make good decisions regarding our teachers or our students. 

Maxine Oland is a resident of Amherst.