Academic Achievement Report Documents Disparities in Regional Schools
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Report on the Meeting of the Amherst-Pelham Regional School Committee, June 9, 2026
This was an in-person meeting held in the high school library and was partially live-streamed on Amherst Media Channel 15. The meeting was recorded.
Regional School Committee (RSC) member Bridget Hynes (Amherst) and School Equity Advisory Council (SEAC) co-chair Alyssa Melnick reported on the status of disparities in academic achievement and discipline between the overall student population and students of racial and ethnic minorities, lower socioeconomic status, and different cultural and gender backgrounds, as well as those with disabilities. Although the overall student body showed substantial gains in academic achievement, stark disparities persist among these groups.
The regional schools showed overall academic improvement from 2023 to 2025, with Grade 10 English language proficiency increasing from 61% to 71%, science proficiency from 54% to 67%, and the percentage of students exceeding expectations in math from 19% to 27%. However, Black students showed no meaningful change, with a gap compared with white students of 38 percentage points. The same applied to Latino students, where the gap remained at 40 percentage points. Low-income students also continued to perform significantly below their non-low-income peers, as did students with disabilities.
The report states that no progress has been made toward the goal established last year of reducing disparities by 25%. In fact, Hynes said, “Math was an overall area of concern, and the gaps are widening for Black and Latino students, low-income students, and students with disabilities, especially at that transition to ninth grade.”
Trends in discipline and school climate are more positive. Discipline rates remain essentially unchanged with a decrease of 0.7 percentage points in in-school suspensions and a decrease of 0.3 percentage points in out-of-school suspensions, and a reduction in bullying incidents. Student attendance is stable or improved. However, data show that Black and Latino students and those with disabilities are twice as likely to be disciplined.
There is also underrepresentation of Black, Latino, and low-income students, and students with disabilities, in Advanced Placement (AP) classes, although specific data are not currently available.
SEAC involves staff, school committee members, and families. Hynes said, “Families come to us when something’s wrong — they feel unheard, and they don’t see clear pathways for access.” SEAC can help families navigate the system and connect with the appropriate people. But this is sometimes difficult, especially for those whose primary language is not English. SEAC recommended that the district appoint an ombudsman to represent families’ concerns. Hynes said this was a role that Barry Brooks played in the past.
Hynes said that SEAC has taken some steps toward dialogue, “but we don’t have any systems in place or proposed steps to move towards measurable action.” She said that comparing last year’s numbers to this year’s “was depressing.” She wanted to make sure the superintendent’s evaluation goals regarding equity are clear and measurable. SEAC has reached out to parents at regional and elementary schools to involve a core of caregivers representative of different equity groups to determine how to improve outcomes.
“This is unacceptable. We’re leaving a lot of children behind, and it’s really sad, and honestly, this is not necessary,” Hynes said. She noted from her own work that with certain supports in place, children can move forward — even those the system may have given up on.
Superintendent E. Xiomara Herman (Dr. Xi) agreed. She said, “We built the foundation for things, but things could have been a lot more solid in our execution. That happens in the first year of any execution. We are not closing the gap, especially for our students of high needs.” She cited longstanding instructional practices and teachers who are skilled but have not adapted to the change in students who have lived through a pandemic, during which their educational landscape shifted repeatedly. She acknowledged the difficulty teachers face as well, and asked the school committee “to have a clear, open, honest conversation around what shifts need to happen.”
Hynes noted that from 2017 to 2019, the equity gap narrowed. That was a period when the Restorative Justice program was created, replacing traditional discipline with problem-solving and repair, with teacher-led curriculum groups working specifically on anti-racist training, evaluating all the books in their classrooms, and with more equity-oriented teacher training. Then came the pandemic, and the Restorative Justice program was cut for budgetary reasons in 2023, widening equity gaps.
Tim Shores (Leverett) remarked on comments the RSC has heard about racist harassment and spoke about SEAC addressing problems of racism among adults, especially among staff. He suggested anti-racist training for staff as well as school committee members.
Sarah Marshall (Amherst) noted that the problems were complex and that it was educators who must develop the curriculum and the teaching model to reduce disparities. However, Hynes said, “I don’t think this is all that complicated.” She said her program at UMass has run a six-week math summer boot camp designed by Stanford, and students in that program improve their math skills by more than a year and a half. She said there are similar evidence-based intensive programs for other subjects. She also noted that early college programs have benefited low-income students from Springfield. She encouraged the school system to invest in these evidence-based programs.
Melnick spoke about a multi-pronged approach: “Students having a voice. Students see brown and Black faces that represent their community, giving them models they can aspire to. It’s enough support so families know there is an AP program, that the teacher pushes the kids, that the families push the kids, and that the school pushes the kids to do their best. It’s not complicated, but it needs to be tracked, and it needs to be supported from the top down.”
Melnick also pointed out that the gap closed when the Restorative Justice program was in place and students were encouraged to work things out together, to listen to each other, and to acknowledge differences.
William Sherr (Pelham) observed that “we are a sea of non-colored people sitting here. We have to look at ourselves. How do we expect more involvement if they don’t see a recognizable face to come to?” He said he was disheartened to hear some staff members were resistant to change during recent interviews. “We need to be a community that’s open to other ideas, because what we’re currently doing is not working.”
Shores added, “We might start asking ourselves how to stop spending money on what students don’t need and how to spend money on what students do need, because there’s not a whole lot of flex in our town budgets.”
As concrete steps the district could take, Hynes gave examples of heritage language courses to allow students to learn subjects in their native language, or wraparound schools that do not have long breaks in the summer. Deb Leonard (Amherst) suggested that the block schedule — under which students might have a year between semesters of a subject — may be contributing to gaps in learning. She also spoke against test-based AP classes. But Hynes said that, with proper support, students can succeed in AP classes.
Dr. Xi said that what children of color need most is consistency. They need “clear, directional feedback. Nothing is going to address every gap in education. No one curricular resource can do that.” She said teachers need to know their students and set objectives for their lessons, with benchmarks for where students are supposed to be at each point of the school year. She concluded, “Teachers should have a choice, but we need to make sure there is a consistency in implementation.”
Hynes suggested a school committee retreat to address the equity gap — not only in academics but in culture, climate, belonging, and discipline. Melnick encouraged more open conversations with students, staff, and families.
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