Regional School Committee Again Receives Heart-Wrenching Testimony About Discrimination at Middle School

Report on the Meeting of the Amherst-Pelham Regional School Committee, July 22 2025

The meeting was held in the library of Amherst Regional High School, was simulcast over Amherst Media Channel 15, and was recorded.

Present
Sarabess Kenney (Chair, Pelham), Anna Heard (Shutesbury), Bridget Hynes (Amherst), Deb Leonard (Amherst), Sarah Marshall (Amherst), Irv Rhodes (Amherst), Jennifer Shiao (Amherst), , William Scherr (Pelham), Tim Shores (Leverett).  Shores participated remotely.

Staff: E. Xiomara Herman (Superintendent of Schools) and Jennifer Ortiz (Director of Human Resources, Amherst Regional Public Schools).

The scene was reminiscent of the May 19, 2023 meeting of the Regional School Committee (RSC). Then, the Amherst Regional High School (ARHS) library was packed with students, caregivers, and concerned community members waiting to give testimony to the RSC about a dangerous situation at the Amherst Regional Middle School where queer and trans students were being harassed by both students and staff, and the school administration was doing nothing to protect them (see here, here and here). While then-Superintendent Mike Morris had maintained that he had not received a single actionable complaint about discrimination against queer and trans students and then-RSC member Peter Demling had suggested that the circulating accusations might be fabricated, we now know that subsequent independent investigations faulted the district for failing to protect queer and trans students who had been harmed and instead protected the perpetrators of that harm.

This meeting also saw a library packed with about 80 students, caregivers and concerned community members waiting to testify about a new threat to LGBTQ+ students, the arbitrator-ordered reinstatement of Amherst Regional Middle School adjustment counselor Delinda Dykes, who had been fired in 2023 amid accusations that she had harassed LGBTQ students. At this meeting, the tone was also urgent, but this time the School Committee and the Superintendent were receptive and supportive. RSC chair Sarabess Kenney said, “our job is to listen and to consider which policies need to be modified and what new policies need to be created to support our students,” and she took the time on multiple occasions throughout the evening to thank those who had shown up to speak out. While attendees left the 2023 meeting feeling ignored and frustrated, most of those in attendance on July 22 left the meeting feeling heard and hopeful.

School superintendent Dr. E. Xiomara Herman (Dr. XI)  said, “We cannot ever arrive at this same place again. We owe it to our students and to the future of this district to end this now. So I ask for your support, your partnership and your courage as we undertake the systemic changes needed. The journey will be uncomfortable. But it is essential in creating a school system where every child is celebrated, feels safe and can thrive.”

“As the leader of the current administration, I have centered accountability and I will continue to do so. We will hold everyone accountable in every role. I am not afraid to make unpopular decisions but if we are going to move forward in prioritizing the safety of kids, I am going to need support from the community for the unpopular decisions that I will have to make.” (Read her full statement here.)

The entire meeting was dedicated to addressing the fallout from the arbitrator’s order to reinstate Dykes. Twenty-one people spoke during the public comment period. An additional four people submitted written comments prior to the meeting. All condemned Dykes’ reinstatement. Public comment was followed by a report from Jennifer Ortiz, the district’s Human Resources Director on the district’s efforts to strengthen accountability. That was followed by a committee discussion of a proposed new policy to promote an identity-affirming culture and staff accountability in district schools. 

Public Comment
Public comment focused on condemning the arbitrator’s order to reinstate Dykes and calling on the district to prevent Dykes from having any contact with students if she must be reinstated. Much of the comment came from students and caregivers who recounted Dykes’ alleged harassment of queer and trans students during the 2023 crisis. Many commenters called for the promulgation of more effective policy by the district to protect all students from bullying and harassment and to prevent the procedural failures that have required the district to reinstate Dykes. Caregivers pointed out how their children were harmed by harassment from Dykes and her colleagues, reporting that some students had to leave the district when they became suicidal but are now thriving.

Selections from some of that testimony are abridged below. Kenney reported that testimony received in writing would soon be posted on the district’s website.

Ali Wicks-Lim read a statement from the Ad Hoc LGBTQ Caucus of Amherst which had organized during the 2023 crisis to support and defend gay and trans students at Amherst Regional Middle School (ARMS). (read the full statement here). The statement asserted that Dykes’ presence would be detrimental to student learning and argued that homophobic and trans harassment impacts a student’s complete school experience and has life-threatening consequences. The caucus called for Dykes not to return to the Amherst schools and if she must, it called on the administration not to put Dykes in a student-facing position. It called out past administrators for creating this situation and current Amherst Regional High School Principal Talib Sadiq for claiming that the documented discrimination did not disrupt the learning of students who had been targeted. 

Andrew Wendkith, a school employee, trans person, parent of three ARPS students, and a self-described person of faith, spoke to the danger of attempting to impose one’s religious beliefs on students, as had been alleged of Dykes. They said, “The idea that Dykes will be allowed to go back to working with students and telling them that they are not valued as who they know themselves to be, is actively detrimental to their ability to live and learn in Amherst. I plead that the district make it very clear to all employees that they are expected to follow all aspects of the Fair Educational Practices Act even if they personally do not agree with them. I further ask that you not allow intimidation tactics from an increasingly emboldened far right to cloud your judgement or stop you from protecting transgender youth now or in the future.” Read Wenkith’s full statement here.

Emmett Troxel, the Director of Technology for The Trevor Project, the leading suicide prevention hotline for LGBTQ+ youth, reported that four LGBTQ youth would attempt suicide during the three minutes that they were allotted for public comment and that by the time the meeting was over, that number would be 80. But one supportive adult in the life of an LGBTQ+ youth, they said, reduces the risk of suicide by 30%. They concluded with the warning that if Dykes is reinstated, some child will be significantly harmed, and that the question is not if but when.

Emily Pfeiffer, a parent of a former ARPS student, also spoke to the danger of suicide among LGBTQIA+ youth. “We are in a very frightening time for LGBTQIA+ people,”  she said. “Teenagers who identify as LGBTQIA+ and who experienced bullying of any kind reported three times the rate of attempting suicide than those who were not bullied. LGBTQIA+ young people who were subjected to conversion therapy—or just threatened with conversion therapy were three times as likely to attempt suicide than those who were not threatened with or subjected to it. But transgender and nonbinary students who found their school to be gender-affirming reported lower rates of attempting suicide. In addition, LGBTQIA+ young people who reported living in very accepting communities attempted suicide at less than half the rate of those who reported living in very unaccepting communities. That’s the power that the adults have who create the spaces that children are forced to occupy. We know what we need to do to keep our kids safe.” Read her full comment here. 

Jill Brevik, parent of a transgender child at Fort River, asked (as did most of the speakers), how someone with the bigotry demonstrated by Delinda Dykes could be returned to a role of guidance counselor.“Reinstating this person sends a message to my student that they are not loved and not welcome,” she said.

Eleanor Trosky, a transgender member of the community, read a statement from one of the parents who filed the original Title IX complaint against the Amherst Schools. Recounting many of the instances when children and parents spoke out and what has happened since, that parent said, “Our district had every opportunity to listen to our kids and they didn’t. What if we just listened to the kids?” They concluded by noting that their child is now attending school outside the district and is thriving.

Lyla (no last name given) stated that she had been a student at ARMS when Dykes was there and that her conflict with Dykes had more to do with religion than gender or sexuality. She identifies as an atheist and that was not acceptable to Dykes, who made her feel unsafe.

A person who gave their name as A.T. pointed out the posters in the library stating that this school is a safe space and asked the school and the community to support those words.

Kara Knott, a parent of two graduates of ARPS and one transgender child at ARHS who was relentlessly bullied and threatened while at ARMS, said what drove her child to attempt suicide was the adults who did not support him and time and again put him in harm’s way over two years and who never reported the incidents that were reported to them. These adults also misgendered him and defended those who were bullying him. She said, “Today he is thriving but I almost lost him in middle school because of how the adults behaved. The school committee needs to create policies that will protect ALL children including those like my child and to ensure that these policies are implemented with fidelity.”

Carlos (no last name given), a rising 9^th grader, said that he did not attend the middle school because he was so scared by the stories of bullying he heard that he left the district after he completed 6^th grade.

Announcements
Jennifer Shiao thanked those in the audience for showing up, saying that she shared their concern and wanted to speak directly to their sense of outrage by encouraging them to run for school committee. “If you want to help shape the future of this district, step forward, run for office. Democracy is something we do together.  It demands our participation. You know this because you are here tonight. Let’s keep showing up”, she said.

Human Resources Update
Human Resources Director Ortiz offered a PowerPoint presentation on the district’s efforts to strengthen accountability practices. Ortiz cited the problems of vague policies and procedures, inconsistent or missing documentation of staff misconduct, absence of accountability mechanisms, and discomfort among leadership in having difficult conversations and addressing personnel issues. She said that the district needs to do better and address its systemic failures. “It’s our job to make sure that kids are safe in our schools, that they can thrive. This is what we are actively working on.”

School Committee Responses
Irv Rhodes said, “I am holding back a lot of anger tonight. I thought I was following the rules as all of that stuff was happening in 2023. I took my concerns to the superintendent and was assured that none of the things being raised in the  complaints were happening. I was assured that things were being taken care of. And it was a damn, complete lie. I will not allow that to happen again. Kids are being hurt, and I did nothing because I believed what I was told. I will no longer turn a deaf ear to what I hear.” 

Rhodes was an unwavering supporter of then-Superintendent Morris and in 2023 joined the School Committee’s majority in deflecting the charges of harassment and discrimination.

Bridget Hynes lamented the emphasis on HR policy and procedure. She said, “I feel like we need a space to explore how we can resist the administrative judgement that we face. We need for people who gave testimony and shared their stories to feel love and support. Things have changed. We have a new superintendent, a new leadership team, a new school committee. Our Title IX committee has brought us participation in the Welcoming Schools Program. How are we going to make clear to the students that we are a welcoming school? We are still hearing that there are gaps between the BRIM reporting system (for bullying incidents) and the follow-through in the buildings.”

Anna Heard expressed her personal frustration. She said, “It is difficult to accept that an arbitrator would determine that there were findings of wrongdoing, but because of procedural errors that person must be reinstated in their past job. Perhaps we need to say that there are certain policy violations that harm students that must result in immediate firing without the requirement of progressive discipline. We shouldn’t have to keep an employee who is harming students in their job and give them extended time to do harm.”

Discussion of New Identity-Affirming Policy
The committee held a first reading of the draft of its Proposed Policy ACAA: Commitment to Identity-Affirming School Culture and Staff Accountability. The proposed new policy demands the creation and support of an “accepting environment” in district schools and demands accountability from staff, educators, and administrators who do not accept that. Heard noted that the district currently does not have any policy that covers these issues and William Sherr pointed out that it is hard to find policies anywhere that protect students from staff. The policy aims to identify sets of behaviors by school staff, such as misgendering or deadnaming, as “ conduct unbecoming” and as grounds for disciplinary action including dismissal, even in cases where Title IX thresholds are not met. The policy will establish the right of families to issue a “no-contact directive,” a new procedure empowering caregivers.

Heard said, “What we really wanted to do is state within this document that misgendering individuals, using dead names, using derogatory remarks concerning sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression whenever in a school environment, whether that be at the school, whether that be over social media, whether that be on a school trip, especially by a staff member, is considered bullying and is considered conduct unbecoming,” 

Read additional reporting with additional photos in the Daily Hampshire Gazette.