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Date: 9/8/2021
HAMPDEN/WILBRAHAM –The Hampden Wilbraham Regional School District (HWRSD) voted on Sept. 2 to instruct the superintendent to pursue an equity audit. It was the second vote on the equity audit in two months and the debate around the issue was noted by controversy.
The public comment period was filled with opinions on conducting an equity audit, with four people in favor of it for every three opposed. The points people made were similar to those made by speakers at past meetings. Several of those in favor said, “When we know better, we can do better.” Resident Renee Bracey submitted a petition with 460 signatures urging the district to conduct an audit.
Maggie Tran, a resident who is blind, said the audit would help the district “find your blind spot.” She continued the metaphor, stating, “I have to rely on other people to assess the room and use tools like my cane.” The audit would be a tool to allow others to assess the equitable outcomes of students in the district.
Some supporters felt there should be a definitive time limit and budget for the audit, two issues cited by those who oppose the process.
Another common point for residents who were both for and against the audit was that the district is “falling behind” and not as “competitive” as it once was. While supporters of the audit felt that was a result of students being “left behind” due to inequitable outcomes, others, such as resident Patricia Harrington said it was because they “spend all this time on stupid social issues,” including equity and bullying.
Resident Jim Smith claimed the audit would lead to increased cost in training and books and would likely cost far more than the quote of $80,000.
Another resident, John Kirsch, said the equity audit would lead to critical race theory in schools and “institutionalize discrimination.” He told the committee that if they voted for the audit, they would be remembered “in the same historical lens as George Wallace,” the former governor of Alabama who fought against desegregation.
Committee member Sean Kennedy put the motion on the table to instruct Superintendent Albert Ganem to conduct an equity audit during the 2022-2023 school year and integrate the findings into the strategic plan, the guiding document for the district’s future, by the end of the 2023 calendar year. He said that it should give the district plenty of time.
Committee Vice Chair Maura Ryan asked about doing an internal audit first, a point that many who oppose the audit had made. Kennedy responded that the district had years to do an internal audit and had not pursued one.
Committee member William Bontempi pushed against the committee instructing the superintendent to take action. He said they spent too much time “micromanaging.” Committee member Patrick Kiernan made a similar point, that while an audit is just a tool and the district should “be brave enough to suck,” it isn’t the committee’s role to vote on something under the administration’s purview. “It can’t be ours, it’s his,” he said referring to Ganem.
Kennedy refuted their point. “We’re saying we want the equity audit done and we’re leaving the rest up to [Ganem],” he said.
Bontempi also said an equity audit should only be done if the strategic plan calls for one. That way, it takes the political decision out of the School Committee’s hands.
“I don’t see it as politics,” said Committee member Sherill Caruana. She said her three children had a hard time getting through school and the audit will give children like hers “a leg up.” She added, “I believe this is the time to start looking at how we bring everyone on board.”
Caruana stated the Massachusetts Association of Regional Schools (MARS) had recommended an audit to Ganem. Bontempi declared that statement “absolutely a mischaracterization and everyone in this room knows it.” He said MARS had said an equity audit could be done as part of the strategic plan. Ganem confirmed the association had made no recommendations so far.
Ganem told the committee that his “main focus” is the strategic plan, but added, “How could [an equity audit] not come out of it?” Repeating one of his maxims, Ganem said, “I’m going to move slow to go fast. I want to do it right.”
Bontempi jumped off of Ganem’s statement, stating the strategic plan would create “an organic audit.”
Ryan suggested waiting until the list of state-approved audit agencies was more concrete. She also questioned putting a time limit on the audit, remarking that the committee didn’t know how long the process would take. Caruana said that “it would get lost” if allowed it to go on for more than two years.
When the dust settled, the vote passed, 4:3, with Bontempi, Ryan and Kiernan opposed.
Mask Pushback
As it was the first meeting since the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education required masks on school grounds as a precaution against the transmission of COVID-19, several members of the public arrived without one. Superintendent Albert Ganem informed the audience of the mandate and asked them to mask up, reminding them that there were masks available by the door. After three requests, a small group of individuals still refused and Ganem told the chair that it was a disruption to the meeting.
One woman claimed to have an exemption. Kennedy asked if she had documentation of the exemption and a couple members of the crowd objected to the question.
Bontempi said it was a violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), however, according to the Department of Health and Human Services, HIPAA ensures “your health information cannot be used or shared without your written permission,” and applies to health plans, most health care providers, health care clearinghouses and business associates, such as billing companies and health plan administrators. It is not a violation of HIPAA for people to ask about one’s health information, as they have the choice to answer or not.
The unmasked individuals were allowed to stay.
Dashboard
Caruana brought up the creation of a data dashboard that parents and caregivers can access to review their student’s progress, as well as metrics on how the district is doing. Bontempi agreed with presenting data measuring students “year over year,” “in a digestible form.” Kennedy added that the district can create an aggregate score based on the various metrics used in the district. Ryan noted Julie O’Keefe and John Derosia had begun work on such a project while in the role of directors of curriculum, however, she was not sure what had come of it.
Test and Stay
HWRSD Nurse Leader Kiara Fryer reported that there had been 138 cases of COVID-19 in Wilbraham since Aug. 1 and 40 in Hampden in the same period. As of the meeting, there were 11 positive cases in the district, with 12 students and staff in quarantine. More than 50 percent of students at Minnechaug Regional High School had been fully vaccinated, with lower numbers among middle schoolers. Fryer said there would be a link on the district’s website, www.hwrsd.org, when the vaccine becomes available for younger ages.
Ganem explained the district was going to be enrolling in the “Test and Stay” program, which would allow close contacts of those with a positive case to be tested once a day for five to seven days unless symptomatic. Vaccinated students are not considered close contacts unless they display symptoms. The program is dependent on parental consent. Fryer reported that 100 percent of parents asked in the prior three weeks had consented to the Test and Stay program.
Ganem told the board that he would have a plan in place to educate quarantining students within the next week and would report on it at the committee’s next meeting.
Kennedy asked Ganem if the district had a plan for handling students who refuse to mask. Ganem replied that the situation had not yet happened, but there was a plan in place to deal with it.