Curriculum concerns spurred new Southwick School Committee member

Date: 8/31/2022

SOUTHWICK – The Select Board and the Southwick members of the Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional School Committee voted unanimously on Aug. 22 to appoint Desiree Melloni to the School Committee to fill a recently vacant seat.

Melloni will fill out a term that expires in 2025, after former School Committee member Jonathan Schantz resigned last month after having been reelected to his position in May.

Melloni was the sole applicant for the position, but she nonetheless went through an interview with the Select Board and School Committee during a joint meeting.

Melloni said she is a longtime resident of Southwick with three children currently in the school system. She has no prior political experience, but she said she chose to seek out the seat because of how she saw her kids being taught when schools were closed during the worst of the pandemic.

“It was eye-opening to the curriculum, to the activities, and I just became more aware of what they were actually learning and maybe what they are not learning,” said Melloni in the interview. “I want to be a part of this. I want to be a voice not only for my children but for all children in our community and bridge that gap between the parents and the school district.”

In January, Melloni addressed the committee during public comment, after having seen that her children had to take an “implicit bias” quiz in an English class last semester, which she said she was informed was subsequently removed from the curriculum. She said in January that she also found assignments given to her children asking about their sexual orientation, which she found inappropriate for lower grades of high school.

“It was an eye-opening experience to myself and other parents that we really need to be involved and we really need to keep a watch on what is coming through their computers and homework papers,” said Melloni during her first School Committee meeting.

It was after she brought up her concerns during public comment at a School Committee meeting in January that Melloni said she began considering running for a seat on the committee.

“It was a little surprising that I was the only applicant,” said Melloni. “I thought there would be a lot more interest.”

Melloni said she has had many jobs in the past where she has had to work closely with and listen to individuals. She was once a hairstylist, which she said helped her become a better listener than a talker, a skill she said would be valuable for the School Committee.

When asked what she thought was the most pressing issue facing the district, Melloni said that there was a “lack of communication” between district leaders and parents, and that she would like to see the committee play a role in bettering communication.

She has one son entering seventh grade, and a pair of twins entering 10th grade.