Heated Discussion at School Committee Meeting over Treatment of LGBTQ Concerns in District Strategic Plan

Report on the Joint Meeting of Amherst, Pelham, and Amherst-Pelham Regional School Committees, December 11, 2025

This meeting was held on Zoom and simulcast over Amherst Media Channel 15, and was recorded.

Present
Regional School Committee: Sarabess Kenney (Chair, Pelham), Anna Heard (Shutesbury), Bridget Hynes (Amherst), Deb Leonard (Amherst), Sarah Marshall (Amherst), Jennifer Shiao (Amherst), William Sherr (Pelham), Tim Shores (Leverett)

Amherst School Committee: Jennifer Shiao (Chair), Bridget Hynes, Deborah Leonard, Sarah Marshall

Pelham School Committee: Margaret Stancer (Chair), Jenny Bradbury, Rachel Figurasmith, Sarabess Kenney, William Sherr

Staff: E. Xiomara Herman (Dr. Xi, Superintendent of Schools), Jennifer Ortiz (HR Director), Yahdira Torres (HR Administrator)

All three committees met to reflect on the first half of the current school year and discuss the future of the district.

The meeting started with a vote on the Amherst Pelham Administrators Association (APAA) contract ratification  which the committees discussed in executive session and approved unanimously. 

Then, Jennifer Ortiz, HR director, presented the Annual HR Report, accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation. Plans for the future include improving the recruitment process for paraprofessionals and student teachers through partnerships with the University of Massachusetts and Mount Holyoke College, and providing support for the restructuring and creation of the sixth-grade academy. 

New and Updated Policies
Ten policies received a first read from the committee. All of these policies had already been reviewed at least once by an attorney, and were created through the collaboration of the policy subcommittee, Dr. Xi, and Ortiz. The second read will be at the last joint meeting of the year on January 27.

The draft policies discussed were:

• Policy ADC – Tobacco and Marijuana Products on School Premises Prohibited
• Policy GBEE – Personnel Use of Technology
• Policy GBEB – Staff Conduct
• Policy GBJ –  Personnel Records
• Policy GBGC –Staff Health and Physical Examinations
• Policy GCBB –Employment of Principals and Administrators
• Policy GCO – Evaluation of Professional Staff
• Policy GCQF –Suspension and Dismissal of Employees
• Policy GDO – Evaluation of Support Staff
• Policy JKAA – Physical Restraint and Behavior Support
• Policy JKAA BH – Physical Restraint, Seclusion, and Behavior Support

Physical Restraint and Behavior Support Policy
The Physical Restraint and Behavior Support policy, Policy JKAA (changes in pink), was voted and approved by the committee in an emergency vote to comply with state law. The policy outlines the definition and rules around physical restraint for students, stating that physical restraint can only be used as a last resort after all other preventive measures fail. The update defines required steps for principals on how and when to inform guardians of students, specifies a written procedure, requires principals to conduct weekly and monthly reviews and to file reports to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. (Note: Policy JKAA BH on Behavioral Support is a newly submitted revision that will receive further deliberation).

While Dr. Xi and committee members had concerns about the wording, the policy will only be operational for less than a year, until the policy subcommittee can update it again. The draft policies will be revisited at the next joint meeting. 

District Strategic Plan for 2026-2028
The bulk of the meeting was spent debating the District Strategic Plan for 2026 to 2028, which was met with heated questions around the inclusion of diversity and the general role that the document plays in the district’s expectations.

After months of working with teachers, students, parents, administrators and committee members to design the district strategic plan, the committee still had concerns about the specifics and representation of LGBTQIA+ students and families.

Dr. Xi presented the draft and explained that the plan would be a roadmap to facilitate conversations around specific policies, practices, and implementation. 

Reading from her memo, Dr. Xi said, “We are designing a system where every student is served. That means every racial group. Every cultural and linguistic group. Every economic background. Every learner receiving special education services. Every multilingual learner. Every early childhood student building foundational skills. Every advanced learner seeking challenge. Every student across gender identities and expressions, including our LGBTQIA+ students. Every child who has ever felt unseen. Every family that has ever felt unheard.” This was met with frustration and questions about the lack of specific mention of these communities in the document itself. 

William Sherr and Tim Shores, along with the majority of the committee members, felt the plan glossed over critical past issues and important communities in the school district. More specifically, they felt the wording around diversity and culture left out LGBTQIA+ students.

“I wish all your words were in this strategic plan because I feel like your words hit all the points that I felt have been missing, and I still don’t see them addressed in the plan given to us, but you certainly presented them in your words tonight,” Scherr said.

The LGBTQIA+ Caucus of Amherst also sent an email to each school committee member before the meeting, requesting better representation in the document.

Shores requested more references to specific groups, historical events and data in the plan.

Sarabess Kenney and Sarah Marshall both pointed out that the document is supposed to be a generalization of the goals and aspirations of the school district, avoiding specifics. 

“The collaboration and excitement that happened every session about pulling this together was super invigorating. I’m very happy about the way this has all come together,” Kenney said.

On another note, Deb Leonard expressed her concerns regarding the goals to improve preschool and early childhood education considering the lack of funding the district receives. While she believes in the importance of this educational gap between early childhood education and elementary school, going into budgeting season has her questioning the ability to make these promises.

“It’s really hard for me to say this, but I’m going to have to. I don’t think the Amherst school district can make that kind of financial commitment to early education given what we’re looking at for cuts for K through six,” Leonard said.

In response, Dr Xi argued that this plan outlines where the district wants to go, but can change based on financial and time constraints.

“That’s why it has to be a living, breathing document that we continue to refer back to and go back to as an administrative team, as school committees,” Dr. Xi said.

In the end, there was no vote on the district strategic plan.

Finally, there was a first read of the draft district calendar, which still needs to be updated depending on developments with the sixth grade academy.