LYNNFIELD, Mass. — The Lynnfield School Committee laid out some action items Wednesday night to address the issue of racism and bullying in schools, and it’ll start with hiring a new principal at the middle school.
“When things escalate to this point, it’s an inflection point for the school committee and for me – this type of hate speech doesn’t have a place in our district or town,” said Thomas Geary, superintendent of schools.
Superintendent Geary says the district has been investigating concerning behaviors at the middle school involving racist comments that targeted a student there.
“The manner in which discipline has been applied in some recent incidents was not in line with my expectations,” said Geary during the meeting.
Superintendent Geary says he disagrees with how the middle school principal handled these incidents, so the principal has been placed on leave, and the school committee is actively looking for a new leader.
“The culture of any organization is shaped by the worst behavior that the leader is willing to tolerate – the worst behavior sets the acceptable culture,” said Geary.
Parents have been fired up over the recent incidents of racism and bullying.
Many of them are calling for concrete policy changes with stricter consequences for this behavior.
“In the situation that brings us here tonight, one of the consequences of reporting racism was punishing an entire grade, including the victim,” said Nancy, a parent, during public comment. “That put a spotlight on a highly sensitive situation and hardly provided a supportive environment for the victim.”
The school committee says they’re now reviewing their discipline policies, and they plan on making changes to the student handbooks.
Plus, they’ll provide more training for both staff and students, so everyone knows racism, or any hate speech is never tolerated.
“I honestly hope that the new principal is someone that feels that they can enforce consequences and you know really cultivate that safe environment that all of the kids in this town deserve,” said Kayla Doherty, a Lynnfield parent.
The school committee will be holding another meeting in early May where they’ll discuss more details on the policy changes they’ll be making.
The superintendent will also send out an email to families on Thursday about the search committee for the new middle school principal.
They hope to have finalists by mid-May.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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