AMHERST — Vira Douangmany Cage, an Amherst-Pelham Regional School Committee member and candidate for state representative, pledged support Saturday for Aisha Hiza, the mother banned from all property in the district.
Douangmany Cage termed the ban a “racist, unnecessary” act.
Douangmany Cage, of Amherst, said she feels a sense of duty to her constituents to speak out on the issue, which has already sparked tensions between Superintendent Maria Geryk and Trevor Baptiste, chairman of the regional school committee.
“People elected me and I have to raise my voice for those who have been disempowered or wronged,” she said, adding that the School Equity Task Force is taking up the issue. “To continue the ban is just outrageous and it’s endemic of a system that can’t admit it’s wrong and can’t admit its failures.”
Douangmany Cage is one of six candidates seeking the 3rd Hampshire District state representative seat now held by Ellen Story. The district is made up of Amherst, Pelham and Precinct 1 of Granby.
The stay-away order was issued by Geryk on March 15, after which Hiza filed a complaint against Geryk. That complaint was aired in executive session by the Pelham School Committee on May 5, and the issue was raised again in executive session by the Amherst-Pelham Regional School Committee on May 10.
Geryk could not be reached for comment Saturday.
Hiza said she is grateful for Douangmany Cage’s support. “She understands and sees how minorities are treated,” Hiza told the Gazette on Saturday.
Hiza said that while she was often vocal in her disagreement with the school’s handling of the race-tinged bullying of her 7-year-old daughter, she was never threatening.
But Michael Long, attorney for the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents, said the order was issued after “a series of needlessly belligerent and contentious confrontations.”
In the order, Geryk states it is based on Hiza’s “actions to date” and information received by the district that the administration deems credible.
Hiza said the information deemed credible came from her ex-husband, who is currently fighting her in court for sole custody of their daughter, a student at Pelham Elementary School.
Following the executive sessions, Thomas W. Colomb, an attorney from Boston representing the Pelham School Committee, wrote to Hiza in a letter dated May 12.
‘The (Pelham School) Committee expressed to the superintendent, and has asked me to express to you, its commitment to maintaining a supportive and respectful learning environment for all students, families and staff in the school district,” Colomb wrote. “The superintendent also identified her efforts to offer you a reasonable restorative process to facilitate better interaction between yourself and school administration, and which would create an environment in which she would be able to lift the stay away order.”
Hiza said district employees have told her she can pick up and drop off her daughter, Raheli, but cannot come inside the school or speak with anyone. Hiza said they have also told her she can go to certain events but cannot talk to school officials. Hiza said until they lift the order she does not trust any of it.
“Ms. Geryk felt so strongly that I was a danger but then all of a sudden those things are OK?” asked Hiza. “I would be stupid to trust Maria Geryk and her team because of the stay-away order and how they have dragged it along and I have not gotten due process.”
Hiza aired her frustrations in a Facebook post on Thursday, saying it feels like she has been arrested.
“I have not been told why, not told how long I will be held for and have not been given due-process,” she wrote, adding that she would be “team Geryk’s punching bag” if it helps the cause.
“I came to realize that it’s not only about Raheli and I,” she wrote. “This is about so many other people. I’m going to keep going till people who need to be held accountable are.”
Amanda Drane can be contacted at adrane@gazettenet.com.