Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 9/27/2022
AMHERST – Amherst Public Schools are working towards a partnership with the town’s Community Responders for Equity, Safety and Service (CRESS) Department, the details of which were discussed at Sept. 20’s School Committee meeting, along with updates on various policies and developments within the district.
The committee was joined by CRESS Director Earl Miller for a portion of the meeting to discuss CRESS’s involvement in Amherst Regional Public Schools (ARPS). Superintendent Michael Morris announced that Miller and he were in the process of drafting a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) which would detail CRESS’s exact functions and responsibilities within the district. As such, these guidelines are not concrete yet, but the meeting still yielded general information regarding CRESS’s capabilities and its goals, as well as the committee’s input on their vision for the department’s involvement.
Miller explained that he and the CRESS team see a direct link between the town of Amherst and its schools. Many of CRESS’s counterparts in other cities do not explicitly mention the school system in their charges, but CRESS does, an aid to what Miller describes as CRESS’s “family-centered” mission statement.
When asked about the nature of CRESS’s engagement with schools, particularly at the elementary level, Miller spoke of two main roles. The first was as a consultant. CRESS may speak with students, their teachers and parents to ascertain what kind of specialized help the child needs, including with mental health issues, and then call an appropriate provider directly to connect the student and their family with the correct resources.
The other main aspect is, as Miller put it, simply “problem solving.” This can translate to a wide variety of services to be performed as needed. Some examples given were driving students to and from school if there are any issues with and/or on the school bus, monitoring students at recess to give teachers time to catch up on work and sending native Spanish speaking CRESS members to read at Fort River for the Spanish language program there.
Morris added that a significant share of CRESS’s problem solving ability is through conflict mediation without the pressure and tension that can come from police involvement in such matters. From Morris’s perspective, one of the biggest issues in ARPS is students that face challenges outside of school following them inside the school, such as adult-on-adult conflict, which can affect children at school, and Miller agreed with this sentiment.
The committee showed high levels of support for involving CRESS in the ARPS community, with a few minor concerns that Miller addressed. Committee member Irv Rhodes was wary that the town of Amherst would begin taking compensation for CRESS services out of the school budget. He did not want ARPS to lose out on funding for services that he felt were already more or less being provided with current district resources.
Miller said that although he could not speak for the town, he “has no intentions to bill anyone” and that CRESS “hasn’t even scratched the surface of its grant funding yet” to necessitate further payment.
Morris also came to CRESS’s defense by pointing out that the department would be providing services that are not currently available within the district, such as the trained conflict mediation mentioned above.
Several members admitted that although the district has a great relationship with the Police Department, they have a strict policy of no police officers being present in the schools and did not want CRESS’s involvement to lead to an overbearing, authoritarian presence in the hallways.
Miller was quick to dispel those concerns. He was adamant about the fact that CRESS is not law enforcement. This means that they do not engage in surveillance, they are not looking to identify future criminals who are still in childhood, and they only practice consensual engagement. He explained that consensual engagement means that even if CRESS is called to address an issue or individual, the person will not be forced to work with CRESS. In the case of the school district, CRESS would also obtain parent permission before aiding or referring children.
Additionally, he was firm in the assertion that CRESS would never participate in aiding the deportation process of undocumented students or families, nor will they arrest students (arrests are the sole jurisdiction of the Police Department; CRESS aims to end each interaction without punishment). He felt it was imperative to get feedback from the committee before drafting the MOA so that everyone could be on the same page, and that CRESS can best serve the entire community. Finally, he said that CRESS would be focusing on addressing targeted challenges. This means that when faced with a problem they do not have the answer to, faculty may call CRESS to come and help out, and once the problem is resolved, the CRESS employees will leave and attend to other business. They will not be an everyday fixture in the schools, patrolling the halls like a school resource police officer would. The committee plans to bring Miller back for a future meeting when the MOA is more developed.
Superintendent’s report
Morris shared some other updates in his superintendent’s report. The first was an acknowledgment and moment of silence in honor of the late Anna Burns, a junior at Amherst-Pelham Regional High School who passed away the previous week.
The district will host in-person open houses for the first time in three years. Crocker Farms’s took place on Sept. 28, Fort River will take place on Oct. 6, Wildwood will take place on Oct. 13, and the Early Childhood Center at Crocker Farms will host theirs on Oct. 12. Parents and community members are invited to stop by and take a look at the facilities and the work of students and faculty. Morris noted that later parent-teacher conferences will be hosted in-person with a virtual attendance option for parents.
The Fort River Parent-Guardian Organization unveiled their mural at their popsicle party, with “easily a three digit number of attendees” according to Morris.
On the matter of enrollment, the K-6 student body at Fort River is larger than Wildwood or Crocker Farms, at 380 students versus 323 and 290, respectively. This is a significant change from the past 10 years, and has implications for staff, resources and programming. Morris stated that the issue will be addressed more in-depth at a future meeting.
Safety walks have been completed (and some still in progress) around the district’s schools, wherein staff walk through the buildings and the grounds with members of Amherst Police and Fire Departments. Walkers address potential safety concerns and look for solutions, as well as noting what is working well. Morris made a point to thank all police and fire employees who participated in the walks.
Crocker Farms librarian Waleska Santiago-Centeno was the keynote speaker at the town’s annual Puerto Rican Heritage Day on Sept. 23. Santiago-Centeno will be recognized and awarded by the State House over the coming weeks for her contributions to education.
The Caminantes program’s Extended Absence and Transfer policy was updated during the meeting. The periods of allowed absence without forfeiture of a student’s spot in the program are as follows: K-2 may miss up to 45 days, while third-fifth graders may miss up to 90 days. Longer absences must be cleared with the Caminantes team, and students will be assessed before and after their absence to determine if their return is appropriate. Allowed absences must be for good reason such as family emergencies, the reason being that the district does not want students or families to come and go back and forth, potentially disrupt the program. Students looking to transfer into the program must be either from a Spanish-speaking family with at least demonstrated intermediate competence in speaking and listening, or previous attendees of another dual language program with demonstrated appropriate proficiency. Morris also unveiled a new promotional video for the program during his update.
The elementary school building project has progressed into schematic design phase. Morris reported seeing 3D projections of the school’s internal and external design, which although are still highly subject to change, are very promising and exciting according to him. Right now he and other subcommittee members are meeting with architects and specialists to configure elements such as window size, environmental sustainability measures, sports facilities and cost-conscious approaches to materials and construction.
The committee ended the meeting with a discussion on the return to in-person meetings. A virtual option will still be available for committee members and public attendees, but the committee debated whether returning to the Town Room would be appropriate or if the high school library would be a better option due to its increased size, allowing for greater attendance as well as better ventilation and social distancing to ease concerns of COVID-19 spread. The committee agreed to decide on the matter at their next meeting, which will take place on Oct. 18.