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Date: 3/30/2022
NORTHAMPTON – The Northampton school district is hiring an independent investigator to examine a situation where Northampton High School (NHS) Principal Lori Vaillancourt referred to members of the Student Union as “asshats” in documents obtained by former School Committee member Susan Voss.
Vaillancourt’s message became public as part of a 267-page records request filed by Voss to show the process behind the high school’s decision to eliminate a standalone honors math program for ninth- and 10th-graders and instead offer only a combined class of honors and non-honors students.
According to the public documents, Voss criticized the school’s curriculum choice, which puts honors and non-honors students in the same classrooms with different performance expectations. In these classrooms, non-honors students would be mentored by honors students and would have the option to challenge themselves with the honors material.
“Principal Vaillancourt’s explanation that the move to embedded honors was supported by the entire Math Department as well as positive feedback from students and caregivers is not supported by information in the public record request,” said Voss, in the public records document. “Instead, it appears this change was pushed by a few teachers, a guidance counselor and the principal. There is no evidence that discussion happened at the department level with all teachers or at the school level with the school council.”
Vaillancourt’s “asshat” comment, as well as a couple of others, came after the Student Union raised concerns about this change within the Math Department. “Keep talking about equity and they will be in our camp,” read one of Vaillancourt’s messages. “They are mad because they weren’t part of the decision-making.” During a walkout on March 16, students protested these comments.
While this situation is investigated, Provost said that former NHS principal Nancy Athas will be the acting principal for the next three weeks. Communications requiring a principal should be directed to her for the time being.
“My immediate goal is to maintain the functioning of the high school, so that students and staff can continue to receive the support they need while the complaints that have been raised are full and fairly investigated,” said Provost, in a letter provided to Reminder Publishing. “I will keep the community updated as the situation continues to unfold. As in all cases, the privacy rights of those involved must be respected throughout the process.”
In a statement provided to Reminder Publishing, the Student Union explained how discontent with the actions and words of Vaillancourt “has been building for the past few years.” Despite this, the Student Union made it clear that, while the comments made by Vaillancourt in the report were upsetting, they are not their main concern.
The Student Union also stated that they discussed the embedded honors program at multiple Union meetings, but they did not in fact take an official position for or against the initiative.
The Union also released a comment regarding a comment regarding “equity” made by Vaillancourt: “Comments included in the report implied that through the use of the word ‘equity’ the Student Union would, without question, agree and support anything brought to the table. Using ‘equity’ to intentionally mislead us in order to gain our approval for embedded honors is manipulative and dismissive of the work that the Union does. Additionally, it is not in alignment with the goals and values of our district. Equity is not an empty word; it is a set of continuous actions taken to create an environment where every student feels safe, cared for, and supported, both academically and emotionally. Equity loses its meaning when used to accelerate and promote an agenda.”
The Student Union ended their statement with the hope that the report, along with the recent walkout, will “spark a community dialogue regarding how distressing and unacceptable the school climate inside Northampton High School has become.”
“The Student Union looks to the School Committee and the superintendent to take the necessary actions that will lead to the revival of a safe and respectful Northampton High School environment for all stakeholders,” finished the statement. During their meeting on March 24, the Northampton School Committee referred the Embedded Honors Math program to the Curriculum Subcommittee for discussion. The hope, according to Provost, is to bring the program back to the full committee for more discussion in the near future.
According to committee member Gwen Agna, the goal of the subcommittee is to not micromanage teachers or vote on anything, but rather, to have a “collegial” discussion on the matter.