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5-17-2022 12:24am
Reorganized School Committee Addresses Wide Ranging Issues, Avoids May 4th Report of Racism, Hate Speech (Updated)
Darlene Cancell
Editor
Image by John Phelan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Updated 5/17/2022 at 10:25 a.m. The phrase "racist speech in the schools" has been clarified to state more accurately, "recent incident of reported racism." Additionally, the organization name "We the People" has been corrected to "Wee the People."
In Westwood School Committee’s May 12, 2022 meeting, members discussed a wide range of topics, including an uptick in COVID, capital needs of the Sheehan School, new hires, a social studies curriculum overview, possible changes to secondary school start times, addressed combativeness in community discourse, but left unaddressed the May 4th report from Westwood Public School (WPS) officials regarding a "racist" video circulating among students.
As the meeting commenced, the committee reorganized itself by unanimously approving Charlie Donahue as new Chair, Tony Mullin as Vice Chair and Amanda Phillips as Clerk.
The former School Committee Chair, Maya Plotkin, upon stepping down from that position, took the opportunity to make a statement on what she views as a change in tone of conversation in Westwood for the worse. Ms. Plotkin noted her perception that there appears to be continued and perhaps increased frustration, anxiety and division in the community, similar to what can be perceived nationally, that has resulted in a shift to combative communication.
“We seem to be leading with anger or leading with judgement more often than not, and forgetting that we all live together in one small town. We seem to forget that the same people that we rail about on social media could be next to us in line at Roche Bros. or on the soccer field or in a house of worship,” Ms. Plotkin observed. She urged the community to stop and take a breath, and start from the perspective of yoga guru Ram Dass whom she quoted as saying, “We are all just walking each other home.”
Ms. Plotkin may have been referring to the highly charged discussion within the community recently surrounding the School Committee election on the issue of diversity, equity and inclusion. She may also have been alluding to the recent incident of reported racism. Or, she may have been alluding to communication in general.
School Safety
Notably, however, there was no direct discussion in this May 12, 2022 School Committee meeting regarding the School District’s notice of May 4, 2022 to student families informing them of a racist video circulating among the student population. The video was described as depicting hate speech and featuring a Westwood High School student. The video even prompted a Westwood Police Department investigation. The district’s notice to families had described the video as “a serious transgression of community norms,” and “entirely contrary to the values of our students, our school and the wider community.”
Perhaps tangentially related to that instance of purported hate speech and racism, Superintendent Emily Parks noted that an event is being planned specifically for fifth graders, with the organization, Wee the People, that will focus on enabling them to feel comfortable talking about race. She noted some parents had raised concerns about the program, but the superintendent assured parents, “I want to be clear that we would never want to create an environment where anyone feels guilty or shamed, or attacked.”
Ms. Phillips raised an idea for the community to work on gun violence prevention through community education for safe gun storage. She remarked that the Centers for Disease Control data show that in 2020, the number one cause of death for children is gun violence. Ms. Phillips suggested a Be Smart presentation for parents, working in cooperation with Westwood Police Chief Jeffrey Silva and Westwood Youth and Family Services Director Danielle Sutton.
Regarding the status of COVID-19 in the schools, Superintendent Parks noted 111 cases in the district, made up of about three-quarters students and one quarter staff, and that the number of cases is similar to what the district experienced in January. Currently, there is a cluster of cases at Deerfield Elementary which Superintendent Parks estimates has resulted in about twenty percent of student and staff being absent.
A large uptick in cases has also occurred at the high school following the large gathering for prom. Some high school classes have been impacted by teacher and substitute staffing shortages. In the event that a class has no teacher, students are still expected to attend. They are instructed by a morning email to go to the cafeteria to report their attendance, or risk being marked absent.
End-of-Year Transition Events
The district will be readying rising fifth graders for their transition to middle school with a visit to Thurston Middle School on June 15. Similarly, rising eighth graders will have an opportunity to visit Westwood High School on June 14. New students to the high school will also have an orientation on August 25 and August 26.
The high school graduation is tentatively set for noon on Sunday, June 5, 2022, but the time is weather dependent. Principal Amy Davenport is expected to confirm the timing of graduation by June 4th.
Mr. Steve Trask, a retired Framingham Chief of Police, has been hired as the District’s new Director of Safety and Security.
Mr. Edward Walker, currently a guidance counselor at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, will be the next Dean of Students of Thurston Middle School.
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School Start Times Subcommittee
Mr. Tony Mullin presented findings from a survey of parents regarding the possibility of changing secondary school start times to a later start time, based on scientific research. Currently, the start time for the high school is 7:25 a.m. and for the middle school it is 7:48 a.m. Mr. Mullin’s presentation noted that early start times contribute to sleep deprivation, which is associated with an increase in adolescent anxiety, depression, obesity, blood pressure, risky behavior and motor vehicle accidents. The Academy of Pediatrics recommends that middle schools and high schools start at 8:30 a.m. or later.
The survey showed high support for later secondary school start times among parents of high school and middle school aged children. Mr. Mullin's presentation noted that as many as 73 percent of respondents in that combined group support the change, and 80 percent of all responding parents support it. The lowest support for later start times for secondary school came from parents of elementary school children. In that group, just 49 percent of respondents support later start times, 25 percent are neutral and 26 percent are opposed.
Mr. Mullin noted that comments from elementary parents included concerns of the impact of later start times on childcare. High school students are most concerned about having less time to perform after-school jobs (22.4 percent of respondents). Ms. Phillips also raised the safety issue of students walking home in the dark.
Next steps planned include communication to the community on survey results, a community-wide forum in September for public input, and a vote by School Committee in October regarding changes to schools start times. More information about the work of this subcommittee is on the WPS district's web page.
Capital Needs at Sheehan School
While the district awaits a response from the Massachusetts School Building Authority on a Statement of Interest to obtain a grant for Sheehan School’s capital needs, the district has identified roofing and lighting needs as priorities to be addressed at the school. Superintendent Parks noted that the town’s energy manager, Tom Philbin, is investigating funding to convert Sheehan School’s lighting to LED, which could result in a return on energy savings in three years.
School Building Project Update
The School Committee’s School Building Committee will soon hold joint meetings with the town’s Permanent Building Committee, going forward. While May and June meetings will be available on Zoom, subsequent meetings will not, as they are expected to deal more with administrative issues than design issues.
Work on the new, consolidated Hanlon-Deerfield school is scheduled to begin this July, but an official groundbreaking ceremony is planned for September. The move from the Hanlon School to the new school building is projected to take place during February break in 2024, and the old school will be demolished. An additional number of months will be spent on installing the school fields. The final date of project completion is hoped to be in August 2024.
Social Studies Curriculum Review
A large committee, comprised of about twenty WPS staff and including one parent representative and one student, has reviewed the social studies curriculum. Its recommendations include:
- Developing curriculum maps;
- Diversifying perspectives;
- Creating opportunity for students to choose topics of in-depth study;
- Helping teachers stay up -to-date on related knowledge; and
- Engaging the wider community in supporting students’ civic engagement.
Next year, the curriculum under review will be library media, digital literacy, and computer science.
