Mental Health Needs in Amherst Schools Are Growing.  Family Center Services Will Be Expanded

Report on the Meeting of the Amherst School Committee, November 19, 2024

The meeting was held at the Amherst Regional High School Library and was simulcast on Amherst Media Channel 15.  The meeting was recorded and can be viewed here.

Present
Sarah Marshall (Chair),  Bridget Hynes, Deborah Leonard,  Irv Rhodes, Jennifer Shiao.

Staff: E. Xiomara Herman (Dr. Xi, Superintendent of Schools). Maureen Flemming (Mental Health and Behavioral Services Director), Doreen Reid (Director of Student Services), Tonya McIntyre (Strategic Equity, Inclusivity and Instructional Leadership Coach).

Eleven members of the public were present in the library. Seventy-five people either live-streamed the meeting or viewed the recording within 12 hours after  the meeting.

Public Comment
Nine written public comments were submitted, covering topics of the budget, school food safety, the status of the Family Center and the Caminantes dual language program, and concerns about alleged discrimination against Latinx staff and students by the district administration. 

During in person-public comment, parent Manny Diaz spoke about the importance of the Family Center and his concerns about its proposed reorganization, and retired teacher, Martha Toro, speaking for the ad hoc Latinx Caucus of Amherst, objected to the restructuring of the Family Center saying that the new arrangement is unworkable and will not meet the needs of Latinx students. She offered a long list of the services that the Family Center currently provides and implied that these will not be continued under the new arrangements. 

Announcements
Deb Leonard reported from the November 17 Town Council meeting that a decision from the Attorney General is expected soon on the bid protest filed by contractors competing for the Fort River School construction contract and that the town is not expecting any changes to the existing time line.

Superintendent Report
Dr. Xi announced the ongoing American Education Week (Nov. 18-22) and encouraged people to speak about an educator who has been impactful for them and to thank area educators for their work.  She noted that in the Amherst schools, each day of the week has been dedicated to a special recognition effort with Wednesday the Nov. 20 designated as thank you day for paraeducators, Thursday as Superintendent for the Day, with three elementary students serving as acting school superintendent within their schools, and Friday as thank you day for substitute teachers.

Dr Xi, asked for a substantial amount of time to respond to concerns that have been raised in the community concerning the reorganization of the Family Center and rumors that she planned to discontinue the Caminantes dual language program at Fort River Elementary School.  She said that several of the concerns that have been conveyed to her were in response to an article in the Daily Hampshire Gazette on Nov. 18 that described proposed changes to the Family Center and particularly in response to a quote at the top of the article that said:

“Our data is not showing that the Family Center is affecting students most in need,” Herman said. “Hispanic students aren’t benefiting, students of color are not benefiting, students with IEPs (individual education program) are not benefiting, high-needs and low-income students are not benefiting.”

Dr. Xi said that this quote which has distressed many people, was taken out of context, adding, “If you read the whole article, it says that we intend to expand on the programs that we already have”. She emphasized that her intention is to expand the services provided by the Family Center to meet the needs of students and those needs are defined by the trends in the data. She then reviewed data on absenteeism and on MCAS scores showing where students were performing below expectations. For example, the data show that only 26% of Latinx students in grades 3-6 in Amherst schools are currently meeting learning expectations. She said that a major challenge to teaching and learning in Amherst is chronic absenteeism and that in order for students to learn they need to be in school, and that “we need to get closer to the families to address this.  Shifting service to the individual schools increases their impact.” (see Superintendent’s Report and meeting recording  at approximately time stamp 38:00).  “The Gazette article really doesn’t convey this,” she said, adding “Because we are trying to do things in a different way does not mean that it is broken.”

Leonard asked Dr. Xi if she can provide updates on absenteeism data as the year progresses.

Dr. Xi responded that her team is developing a data dashboard so that the committee and staff will have ready access to attendance and MCAS data.

Bridgett Hynes asked if the vacant position in the Family Center will be filled.
Dr. Xi responded that her team is attempting to fill that position but they are subject to budgetary constraints.

Irv Rhodes said that he would like to know more about some of the groups in the superintendent’s report and was struck by the observation that only 26% of Latinx elementary students are meeting learning expectations.  He said he’d like to hear, not just the kids whose needs are not getting met but also about the kids who are succeeding.

Hynes said she has heard from several constituents who are worried about Caminantes and the school district’s commitment to the Latinx community, referring to accusations that Dr. Xi has been targeting Latinx staff, students, and programs, and rumors that she plans to get rid of Caminantes, is dismantling the Family Center, and that she has unfairly fired Latinx staff. She offered Dr. Xi the opportunity to reassure the public of her commitments. 

Dr. Xi said she wanted to speak specifically to the Latinx community and respond to the circulating rumors and accusations. Her full remarks follow and can be found on the recording beginning roughly at time stamp 51:00.

“I think that there are comments that I have fired individuals. I have not fired anyone at all. But I know that when you look through a specific lens based on your experience, that you can feel sometimes that something that has happened to you many times before is happening again. And I truly hope that I can have the opportunity to step into a role and come from the lens which I speak to, which is that all children matter, and equity means providing children with what they need.”

“I truly support the work of every individual in the Latinx community, the LGBTQIA+ community, our Black community, our Caucasian community, and I think that what ends up happening right now is that there is a misunderstanding that needs to be cleared up. I hope that we can continue to have an open dialogue, and make sure that it doesn’t seem aggressive.  I think we had one brief conversation, and I say brief because I think it could have been longer. I think we could have hit on some deeper topics that needed to be hit on. I think that what is missed is that I may not have the full context of what occurred to make individuals feel that I am now targeting them.”

“I think the misunderstanding around Caminantes is something that I also need to clarify. When I was hired, I came in and there was Fort River. Fort River is a school building where there are two programs that are running concurrently that are actually causing the school to function as two schools under one roof.  Caminantes is a gem. I don’t know of any other school district that has a fully bilingual education program with another education program in their school.  I have also been looking at the research available on such programs. And when I do this, and look at the pros and cons of other programs, I am not saying that this is what I am going to do to Caminantes. We might need to make some changes. We might need to expand Caminantes. Looking at Caminantes where it is and how it co-exists with Explorers, it may be that Explorers cannot function adequately within the current arrangement and that’s not fair to the parents and the students affiliated with that program. And I think that when there is a gem and people value that gem, they may see that that’s where they want their students to be, and the other program may not get the benefit of the highlight. So for me, I am working with my team to see – where can we actually take Caminantes? How do we work within our budgetary restrictions, how do we expand on that program, how do we make it work within the realm of what we have, and knowing that at a certain point we will be moving our sixth graders to another school, do we have the opportunity to expand into a full bilingual education school?  Like maybe, do we take the new Fort River and make that a fully Spanish immersion program?  So when I speak about how I am not sure where Caminantes can go, it’s not to regress the program, it’s how do we make sure that people understand that under the roof of Fort River – Fort River is thriving. There are great educators in both programs. I speak from the superintendent lens that Fort River is an awesome school that houses two programs. But one program is no longer just a program. It has grown to the point that it can maybe stand on its own two feet and possibly be a school by itself. And that’s what we need to consider. “

“So for me, when the community engages, I would like them to email me and ask for clarification. They can say – hey you said this, what did you mean?. And a couple of people have done that. And then I can say – I am not getting rid of Caminantes! Where did you get that from? I am trying to say that Fort River is an awesome school with two programs and one is doing great and the other is not and it’s disparaging what people are saying about the Explorers program and how people feel about it in the community. But there are great educators in both. So for me, Caminantes is great. Let’s sturdy the budget and sturdy the programming and see if we can enable it to stand on its own two feet and market it as a full Spanish immersion program.”

“I also want people to know that there are some personnel issues that have impacted what’s happening.  It’s something that I cannot go deeply into (because these are personnel matters) but I can say that it is not something that was not mutually done.”

“I have not been closed to any community.  I am proud of my background, which has Hispanic descent. My mom is from Aruba, my dad is from Curacao, I lived on St. Martin, I was born in Santa Cruz, St. Croix, a 30 minute flight from Puerto Rico. I don’t have an issue. I don’t do that. I don’t come from a place of inequality. I come from a place of  – this is what is in front of me and how do I solve what I have to solve? How do I work to make sure that our children have what they need and how do you expand upon the jewels that you currently have?  And that’s it. I hope that clarifies and I hope that at our next Latinx meeting we can have a deeper and richer discussion of how we can improve instruction for our students so our absenteeism rates can change and our instructional outcomes can change.”

Report from the Budget Team Working on Social and Emotional Considerations
Maureen Flemming (Mental Health and Behavioral Services ), Doreen Reid (Director of Student Services), and Tonya McIntyre (Strategic Equity, Inclusivity and Instructional Leadership Coach) provided a report on Mental Health and Social and Emotional Considerations for the FY 26 budget addressing what the schools are doing now and how this shows up programmatically in the upcoming fiscal year.

Flemming reported that the district’s first Welcoming Schools anti-bullying training was held last week and it was a smooth start and “went off without a hitch.”  Over 350 people trained across the schools. Feedback so far has been largely positive, she said.

Regarding projections about mental health needs in the Amherst Schools she said,  “We have high needs and lagging social skills from the pandemic.  I don’t see the needs diminishing any time in the near future.  We see the mental health needs of our younger students increasing rather than decreasing. Bullying investigations are complex – they take a lot of work including a lot of work with families and this also ties back to lagging social skills and inabilities of the students to navigate conflict.  Some of these issues are deeply embedded and have been emerging for years.”

Flemming emphasized that the mental health and social behavioral needs of the district are growing. She pointed out that at that at Crocker Farm Elementary School there are 301  students enrolled and 103 (34%) of them are on IEP’s (Individual Educational Plans) and 17 students are on 504 plans (a 504 plan helps students with disabilities participate in school by providing accommodations that level the playing field with non-disabled students.)  At Fort River, of the 378 students enrolled, 97 (26%) receive IEP services and 13 are on 504 plans. At Wildwood among the 320 enrolled, 84 (26%) were on an IEP, and 16 were actively seeking 504 accommodations. 

Flemming reported that learning challenges are especially acute with students who have a high absentee rate. Her work has been focused on how to get kids to come to school and how to keep them there.  She noted that there are documented increasing anxiety rates among current students and observed that when kids decide to stay home, it’s harder to get them back. “It’s not just the pandemic,” she said  “Social media has changed the world for kids and plays a role in increased bullying. There are a lot of factors impacting why kids don’t come to school including high rates of anxiety, social media, and phone use.”

McIntyre reported on the issue of professional development, noting that currently curricular trainings happen during the school day, which means the schools need coverage of the classes for those receiving training. She said the schools need to create professional development time that doesn’t pull them away from their teaching time.

She said that for FY26,  “we want to market our schools as the place to come to get an excellent education. We want to attract and retain educators and we need to find robust ways for them to get the support that they need.” She also noted that class size, which averages 20 students/class in the elementary schools and is capped by policy, needs to be up for reconsideration in the context of budget challenges.

Rhodes pointed out how different the numbers Flemming had cited are from what they were 10 years ago. He observed that the people writing the budget perhaps are having difficulty realizing that the schools are not the same as when their kids went to school.  And the differences have significant budgetary implications, he emphasized.  “Our students need more support than what the district is able to offer. And we offer a lot of different programs,” he said.

Hynes noted that Amherst’s numbers are very close to statewide averages. “It’s not that Amherst is unique in these needs,” she said.

Letters in Support of Initiatives
The committee endorsed unanimously a letter in support of the Mass Promise Resolution, calling on the Commonwealth to underwrite charter school tuition and school choice.

The committee also endorsed unanimously a letter to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education opposing the application of the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School to expand enrollment.