AMHERST — With the anticipated return of a counselor who was fired for misgendering students and making inappropriate comments related to gender and sexual orientation, an advocacy group is asking the Amherst Regional Middle School to create a staffed safe space for LGBTQIA+ students and adults and to allow families and their children to request no-contact orders.
In advance of the reinstatement of Delinda Dykes as a middle school counselor, two years after her termination, the LGBTQIA+ Caucus of Amherst is making a series of requests that aim to protect both students and staff from possible harms.
The requests come after the school district exhausted all options for keeping Dykes away from the public schools. A Hampshire Superior Court judge’s ruling this month, though, confirmed that an arbitrator’s decision that Dykes must be reinstated and resume work at the school. Dykes has been on paid administrative leave this school year.
“We are deeply concerned about the message this sends to LGBTQIA+ students and about the impact on all students, of having a guidance counselor who has caused harm to LGBTQIA+ students,” reads the statement, which is being distributed by Ali Wicks-Lim.
The caucus requests that the administration designate and staff a safe space for the full school day and offer families the right to protect their children by honoring either parental or student requests to have no contact with Dykes.
In addition, the group is asking for better compliance in the area of bullying and harassment reports, which the group contends the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has found lacking, and for filling the position of director of mental health and behavioral services, who recently announced her resignation.
A form letter for the no-contact order is available online that states this would include individual or group counseling sessions, academic or behavioral meetings, informal check-ins, or any other form of contact within the school setting.
“This directive is being issued to support the emotional safety and well-being of my child, and we expect it to be respected fully and without exception. All staff should be made aware of this directive and instructed accordingly,” the directive reads.
The LGBTQIA+ Caucus, which has previously organized a rally before a Regional School Committee meeting over the summer and staged a welcoming event on the first day of school, is planning an action for a December Regional School Committee meeting.
Superintendent E. Xiomara Herman did not respond to requests for comment this week about the requests from the caucus, or where and when Dykes will return to school. Attorneys for Dykes declined comment on behalf of their client.