Regional School Committee Members Trade Accusations Over Alleged Policy Violations

Report on the Meeting of the Regional School Committee, June 24, 2025

This meeting was held in the high school library, was simulcast by Amherst Media, and recorded.

The last 90 minutes of this meeting were devoted to a discussion of recent actions of Regional and Amherst School Committee member Irv Rhodes that were alleged by the committee chairs to violate the policies of the committees and to undermine the ongoing contract negotiations with the Amherst Pelham Educational Association (APEA). Regional School Committee (RSC) Chair Sarabess Kenney (Pelham) and Amherst School Committee (ASC) Chair Jennifer Shiao said they attempted to meet with Rhodes privately to discuss his actions, but he walked out, later explaining that he had not known that the meeting was only with the chairs and as a Black man, he would never meet privately with two women. He also declined to discuss the chairs’ concerns in an executive session of the committees, insisting on a public discussion.

Shiao briefly summarized the issues (the documents she referred to are in the school committee’s meeting packet on the district’s website and are linked below). She said that she and Kenney were notified of several instances of concern. The first was that Rhodes has attempted to arrange a lone visit at one of the elementary schools without first notifying the superintendent, contrary to school committee (SC) policy. The second was that the APEA president informed SC members on the bargaining team that Rhodes had contacted her and suggested that if the APEA sacrificed raises and cost of living increases, he was confident that the town of Amherst and the Amherst Town Manager would agree to a larger budget increase for the schools. The third incident was that Rhodes contacted the former employer of a district employee and asked about their work schedule because Rhodes suspected, based on the agency’s web site, that the employee was still an active realtor. The employer thought the call was suspicious and sent a summary and screen shot of the call placed from Rhodes’ phone to the employee who forwarded it to Superintendent E. Xiomara Herman (Dr. Xi).  On that call, Rhodes did not identify himself as a member of the Amherst School Committee but apparently posed as a potential client, seeking to purchase real estate. The fourth incident was when Rhodes called the employee directly and then sent an email to the school committees saying that he had urged the employee to sever ties with the realty agency.

That email exchanges can be found at the following links:

May 23 (Dr. Xi to RSC; Rhodes to RSC)

June 4 (Outside employer to ARPS employee; forwarded to Dr. Xi then to Shiao and Kenney)

June 4 (Shiao, Kenney, Rhodes)

June 5 (Rhodes, Shiao, Kenney, Dr. Xi)

June 6 (Rhodes to RSC)

June 7 (Rhodes to RSC)

June 8 (Rhodes to RSC, #1)

June 8 (Rhodes to RSC, #2)

June 11 (Rhodes to ARPS staff member and Dr. Xi)

June 19 (Shiao, Rhodes, Kenney)

Shiao said that when she and Kenney met with Rhodes, he did not deny the actions, but contested that those actions violated school committee policies. Shiao reported that Rhodes said he would not change his behavior and wanted a hearing in front of the committees. 

Rhodes insisted that he had followed the school committee policies about notifying the superintendent by cc’ing her on his email communication with Crocker Farm Principal Derek Shea about visiting the school. He insisted that his communication with the APEA President was at the beginning of contract negotiations and hence did not have an effect on the subsequent meetings, since the president did not present his views to the rest of the union. He said he was upset that the screenshot from the former employer of the school employee showed his wife’s name on the caller ID and that he did not understand why her name was on the screenshot. 

Shiao noted that the name of Rhodes’ spouse was what appeared on the phone screen of the employer and she ensured that it was redacted before the documents were posted to the packet. 

Rhodes  maintained that  school committee policies grant the right of individual members to voice a personal opinion and to gather information by speaking to employees.

Sarah Marshall (Amherst) and Deb Leonard (Amherst) questioned the policy that the superintendent should be notified before school committee members speak to a staff member, but other committee members stated that that is what Dr. Xi has requested so she can give background information or coordinate meetings. As for Rhodes contacting the APEA president, Kenney said that the school committee and the union were working well together during the contract negotiations, and Rhodes’ interference could have disrupted that had it been made public.

The committee had the most discomfort with Rhodes contacting the former employer of a current district employee and also directly contacting the employee. William Sherr (Pelham) said that the committee can’t dictate what an employee does with their time after hours. 

Rhodes contended that much of what Shiao said in her initial summary for the committee was “incredibly false” but did not state what, specifically, he believed to be untrue.

Several members wanted to move on from the discussion when there did not seem any resolution. Bridget Hynes (Amherst) said that the committee had worked so well together for the entire year, and it was a shame to disrupt it.

Rhodes did not seem satisfied with the discussion  He said, “We have to be informed. We can’t act as if politics aren’t involved. We can’t act as if everyone is going to play by the rules.”

Marshall suggested that the matter be placed on the agenda for the retreat to be held in August.

The meeting adjourned without the committees taking any action.