Public Comment: APEA Statements on Anti-racism Training, Support for LGBTQIA+ Students, Call for Redaction of Title IX Reports, and Support for Wrongly Fired Teacher

The Amherst Pelham Education Association (APEA) offered the following public comments at the Regional School Committee meeting of December 12, 2023.

Anti-Racism Training
In the spring, the APEA issued a statement called “ In Support of LGBTQ+ and Racial Equity.” In it, we affirmed our strong position in advocating for an inclusive and safe schooling experience for all kids. We acknowledge that equity work is on-going work. We are happy to update the community and School Committee that members of the APEA will continue equity work through anti-racism training this winter, and we invite and encourage current and incoming School Committee members to join us in this training. We look forward to the work we can do together to renew and strengthen our active, anti-bias practices. 

Support for LGBTQIA+ Students and Call For Redaction of Title IX Reports
We stand with our LGBTQIA+ students and staff, and we fiercely condemn any behavior that puts our students’ safety and learning in jeopardy.

On behalf of the APEA, we requested the opportunity to review the investigative reports prior to their release. This request was not granted by the District, a continuation of a harmful pattern.

The Union maintains the release of these reports, in the form in which they were released, violated members’ statutorily protected rights regardless of the reported unchallenged opinion of the Public Records Division. 

The Union believes the continued posting of these reports, in their current form, on the districts’ website only serves to exacerbate the violations and cause unnecessary additional harm to its APEA leaders and members. 

While we want transparency for all community stakeholders, and appreciate the intention of having the reports published for that reason, we, the APEA request that the district:

1.        Remove the reports from the website so that we may appropriately redact private personnel information, including APEA member names, positions, and other identifiers.

2.        Once privacy is ensured, repost the reports with the complete and appropriate redactions for community stakeholders to view.

3.        Provide APEA and the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA) with any correspondence with the Office(s) of the Secretary of State and other entities and any other related records regarding the release of the reports.  

Reinstatement of Fired Teacher
This fall, a union member and teacher in our district was accused of alleged activities outside of school. This teacher was put on leave by the District Human Resources without an investigation. Since then, DCF has investigated and exonerated this teacher from all wrong-doing. The accusations were found to be unsubstantiated. I want to repeat, this teacher was exonerated. However, the District has fired this employee. We are asking, why is a teacher who did nothing wrong still not back in the classroom? Our students have been without their teacher for weeks. Over 50 school employees have signed a letter advocating for this teacher’s reinstatement.  As School Committee members, we ask that you involve yourself to ensure the fair treatment of our members. The APEA requests that the district reinstate this employee immediately.