AMHERST — At one table in the high school cafeteria, people of all genders could have their nails painted, choosing from a kaleidoscope of colors. Nearby, using posters and magic markers, signs were being made offering support to gay, queer and trans students, many topped with the words “Gay Agenda.”
Along with the numerous rainbow umbrellas being held both outside at the entrance and inside in the hallway leading to the school library where the regional school committee was set to meet, members and supporters of the LGTQIA+ Caucus of Amherst on Tuesday staged a response to the recent court-ordered reinstatement of a counselor fired for alleged anti-trans actions at Amherst Regional Middle School — and their first action since Delinda Dykes’ recent return to the building.
For those participating, it was important to show support for students, but also to ensure all children are protected through transparency, accountability and equity in the town’s public school buildings.
“I’m here to let kids in this school know there are adults who care about them,” said Anne Graham of Shutesbury, who is a member of Rainbow Organizing and Response (ROAR), while holding a sign reading “Gay Agenda: Protect Kids.”
Amanda Strout of Amherst, whose children will be in the middle school and high school next fall, stood next to Graham with a sign stating “Safety First: Protect Our Kids Now.”
“I want these kids, and my kids, to know they are in safe spaces with safe adults,” Strout said.
Strout said there is confidence improvements have happened, even if Dykes’ firing was later overturned by an arbitrator and she is back as an eighth-grade guidance counselor.
“I hope things are better,” Strout said. “The fact wrongdoing was found, hopefully that can be heard, and kids can understand there are folks who stand up for them.”
Elle Van Dermark of Granby, who is a professor at Connecticut State Community College, understands the issues from growing up in a remote Alaska town and not knowing any other gay youth. Now Van Dermark sees what can be done to improve lives.
“Working in a highly embargained workplace with 7,000 employees in the state of Connecticut, I know it is possible to implement human resources policies that protect queer and trans kids,” Van Dermark said. “I want to see this committee do so.”
The nail salon was a response to an incident in which Dykes allegedly criticized a male colleague for “confusing” students by allowing them to put nail polish on his fingernails, said Ali Wicks-Lim, a spokesperson for the LGBTQIA+ Caucus. That prompted Dykes to take out nail polish remover from her desk drawer and hand it to a male colleague to remove.
Wicks-Lim encouraged people to wear nail polish to school to show solidarity.
With the signs, having many of them headlined with “Gay Agenda” means taking the same term that Dykes supposedly said to her male colleague after handing him the nail polish remover: “We can’t let them continue to think the ‘gay agenda’ is OK. It is not.”
“We’re reclaiming that,” Wicks-Lim said, adding that the term “gay agenda” is a dog whistle that was designed by the religious right to negatively portray queer people and their efforts to achieve equality.
Wicks-Lim said that it’s important to keep talking and to get the message out to students so they know they are supported.
But there are other motivations, as well, such as appealing to the administration to ensure staff performance reviews are being done on a regular basis. The arbitrator ruled that Dykes needed to be reinstated because there were no evaluations or discipline records on file.
“Delinda Dykes returning to the middle school was a predictable outcome of a failure of an administration,” Wicks-Lim said.
Laura Hunter, an incoming Amherst School Committee member, said she isn’t sure this is happening yet, even with a new administration in place.
“As far as we know, people like Delinda Dykes are not being evaluated,” Hunter said.
Hunter pledged to make sure accountability happens. “We’re going to keep fighting this fight until we win,” she said.
Wicks-Lim is meeting regularly with Superintendent E. Xiomara Herman. “If we file actual complaints and reports, we have an administration that says they will act on them,” Wicks-Lim said.
There is other work to be done.
William Sherr, who serves on the Amherst Regional School Committee as a Pelham representative and had his nails done at the event, is still calling for the formation of an affinity group for caregivers who are gay and gay adjacent.
“We haven’t seen movement on the district doing that,” Sherr said
At the meeting, after some of the School Committee members walked by or observed the action, there were about 30 minutes of comments, with Van Dermark suggesting the creation of better policies.
“Take the time, please develop the practice and policies so when Delinda Dykes or anyone else harms our children, they can be held accountable,” Ven Dermark said.
Community member Emily Pfeiffer called on Dykes to resign, but short of that for officials to keep a close eye on her behavior.
“Please watch for the inevitable repeat offenses,” Pfeiifer said.
Incoming District 2 Councilor Amber Cano-Martin said that no-contact orders from families, to protect their children from Dykes, need to be documented so no incidents occur.
Wicks-Lim said it should be unacceptable and a fireable offense for a teacher to not report when there is hate or transphobic actions directed toward a student.
Wicks-Lim also read a statement from the caucus that when ARPS is referenced, it not just stand for Amherst Regional Public Schools.
“We ask that from now on when you hear ‘ARPS’ you think of the following words: Accountability and Reporting Protects Students,” Wicks-Lim said. “Historically, Amherst schools have failed in the areas of both accountability and reporting, and this must change in order to protect queer and trans students. “