AMHERST — A letter sent by a resident to the Amherst-Pelham Regional School Committee expressing concern about how it has been functioning elicited an unusual, personal response that was shared on social media this week.
Vira Douangmany Cage, an Amherst member of the regional board, Monday posted the original letter and her response on her Facebook page. In addition, she linked to that from her Twitter feed.
The letter was written to the full committee by resident Karen S. Dunn, who works as a real estate agent for Jones Group Realtors.
“I wrestled with sharing this public document, but I think it is more important for people to see what folks of color experience when we challenge the status quo … even in a progressive community like Amherst,” Douangmany Cage wrote on Facebook.
On Twitter, she used hashtag #thisis2016. The New York Times has asked Asian-Americans who have racist encounters to use that hashtag.
“My #thisis2016 moment in Amherst, Massachusetts: when a white realtor says I am to blame for destroying her town!” wrote Douangmany Cage, who was born in Laos.
In her letter, Dunn wrote that she has observed dysfunction and that “self-proclaimed activists” are hurting the committee.
“The infighting amongst members and the negative press our public schools are receiving in the Hampshire Gazette/Amherst Bulletin as a result is horrifying,” Dunn wrote. “It is abominable to think that the personal agendas of a few members has created this major schism in what was once a stable, collaborative and mindful group.”
Dunn’s letter criticizes Douangmany Cage and Trevor Baptiste, one of two Pelham representative. They were two of three who voted against the more than $300,000 payout to former Superintendent Maria Geryk, along with Stephen Sullivan, Shutesbury’s representative.
Dunn said in a telephone interview Friday that she was not expecting a response to her letter, adding that she was surprised at how Douangmany Cage approached the matter.
Dunn this week sent a follow-up email hoping to meet with Douangmany Cage in person to learn more about how the committee functions, but never heard back.
“I responded back to her and asked her if we could talk,” Dunn said.
Five members of the Amherst-Pelham Regional School Committee cited dysfunction and the disarray in the school district jeopardizing the educational work of the public schools in August when they sent a letter seeking assistance from Mitchell D. Chester, commissioner of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Amherst School Committee Chairwoman Katherine Appy said in an email that she often responds to residents who write letters, but that posting a letter such as Dunn’s for public consumption is not common. Many of these letters, she said, are critical of members or the committee.
“I worry about how this public action will impact community members feeling comfortable reaching out to the school committee,” Appy said. “My concern is that it will stop people from letting us know what they’re thinking. We want the community to be able to freely tell us what’s on their minds.”
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
