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Date: 5/3/2022
EASTHAMPTON – The Easthampton School Committee and Mayor Nicole LaChapelle remain at odds over the mayor’s handling of a situation in which she was accused of using racially insensitive and profane language toward a student at the high school.
During the incident in question, LaChapelle was giving feedback to the Easthampton High School We The People team during a March 30 practice session when she instructed a participating student to utilize different body positioning and posture because they didn’t “talk like a white person.” The school’s We The People team had won its fifth consecutive state championship earlier in the year and was preparing for a national competition in Washington DC. The team went on to place 11th overall.
In an audio recording of the session released publicly by LaChapelle, the mayor is heard saying, “Your cadence is a little – it’s not – you don’t talk like a white person, right, and that’s fine. But what you have to do with your physical presence is say like, ‘Who [expletive] cares?’ I had a tough morning, I’m sorry.” LaChapelle’s total time with the class was four minutes and included critiques of other students’ presentation as well.
Upon releasing the tape, LaChapelle issued the following statement: “I ask the School Committee to send a second email to the entire Easthampton Public School community with the full four-minute audiotape of my remarks to the civics class and without any commentary. My remarks have been the subject of much debate and should be heard on their own, in their original delivery. The school community deserves to have the right to form their own conclusions about what I said.”
The full audio can be heard at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1s2J-76t9PZ3_WxeNDDks_XqCPY2BoE6w/view?usp=sharing. Reminder Publishing additionally requested a video recording of the session from the school department but had not received a response as of press time.
LaChapelle issued a public apology for the incident on April 13, a day after the School Committee agreed to launch an investigation into the circumstances.
She publicly addressed the issue with the School Committee at its April 26 meeting, again acknowledging the incident, and explaining her intent was to address “implicit bias” that competition judges might have applied.
“Yes, I swore. Yes, I had a rough morning. Not excusable, but human,” she said, later adding, “My comments were intended to strengthen the students’ arguments by acknowledging factors that were out of their control – the bias often faced by people of color. I believe deeply that understanding and anticipating possible bias is essential when delivering public remarks. But my words were heard differently by a student and her family. I assumed they would understand my intent and I was wrong.”
LaChapelle added in her statement that “upon learning the effect of my words on the student and her family,” she reached out “directly,” met with the parents, Superintendent Dr. Allison LeClair, Easthampton High School Principal William Evans and We The People instructor Kelley Brown, and wrote letters to the family and the class. An executive session to discuss the matter was scheduled for that meeting, but the mayor did not attend.
In a statement signed by Chair Cynthia Kwiecinski and released to local media the following day, the School Committee called the use of language “racist and unacceptable,” regardless of the intent, and the use of profanity in the school setting “unprofessional.” They further stated they were “surprised and dismayed” that the mayor did not participate in the executive session discussion that had been scheduled to accommodate the mayor.
The School Committee also criticized LaChapelle for the timeliness of her response, alleging the mayor took several days to address the incident. The statement, which represented the conclusion of the School Committee’s review of the incident after members agreed to investigate at its April 12 meeting, indicated that LaChapelle did not meet with the student and their family, LeClair and Brown until five days after she was first contacted regarding the incident.
“She let five days go by without addressing the damage she caused, even though she was contacted by both the parent of the student who was the target of her comment on Wednesday, March 30, as well as the Superintendent on Thursday, March 31 and Friday, April 1. She did not meet with the family, Superintendent LeClair and Teacher Kelly [sic] Brown until Monday, April 4, 2022. It is this Committee’s belief that after being contacted on March 30, March 31, and April 1 of the hurt she caused, that it was inappropriate to let days go by without having a meaningful conversation with those involved in a heartfelt and healing manner,” the statement reads.
A representative for LaChapelle, however, refuted this alleged timeline, providing Reminder Publishing with an email from Brown’s personal account to the mayor’s personal, non-governmental email account dated April 1 at 7:07 a.m. According to Kelly Norton, principal of Norton Communication Strategies speaking on LaChapelle’s behalf, that email was the first communication the mayor received regarding her March 30 comments.
“The email you have is the first notification of any issue made to Mayor LaChapelle. That same day, she exchanged calls, text messages, and emails with the principal, superintendent, parent, and teacher. The School Committee knows this, or they should know this based on their discussion last night,” Norton said. Reminder Publishing also attempted to contact LaChapelle directly through the Mayor’s Office but received no response as of press time.
Brown’s email asked LaChapelle to contact LeClair regarding the issue, stating her belief that on March 31, a parent of the student in question had left a message for the mayor at her office and the superintendent had also attempted to contact her.
Dr. Karin Moyano Camihort, director of the Information Technology Department, confirmed to Reminder Publishing that the city’s email and phone call logs were examined twice as part of the School Committee’s review and revealed no evidence that the mayor had been contacted regarding the incident through the city’s system prior to April 1. The review did not include Easthampton Public Schools, which has its own IT systems, or personal records. Darin Pawlus, director of technology for the school district, referred all questions on the topic to LeClair, who was unreachable as of press time.
However, Kwiecinski contended that LeClair went to LaChapelle’s office in person on March 31 and, upon learning the mayor was in a meeting and unavailable, left a message with her assistant. She added that LeClair told her that she spoke with LaChapelle on April 1.
Later that day, according to Kwiecinski, the mayor contacted the family via text message but did not meet with them until April 4, adding LeClair received a complaint from the family on April 3, expressing their frustration that they had not yet met with the mayor.
Kwiecinski said she could not provide any more information regarding communication between parties.
“The mayor refused to meet with us, so we don’t have any information from the mayor,” she said.
When asked why the School Committee pursued an investigation after LaChapelle had acknowledged the incident and apologized, Kwiecinski said, “It is our job to protect students and families. This behavior was wrong. If this was a teacher, there would be significant consequences. We can’t not look into it. We can’t not speak out against it. That would not be supporting our students, our families and our schools. We don’t have any power over the mayor, but what we can do is make a clear statement that this is something we will not tolerate.”