AMHERST — In response to “hateful” language online in recent months, school leaders are calling for compassion.
Carol Ross works from the school superintendent’s office as the media and climate communications specialist in charge of Amherst Together.
On Tuesday she emailed a letter to the school community which she described as “an urgent call to action.” She asked the community to turn from “ridicule and belligerence to encouragement and benevolence.”
“While we aim to teach our children that bullying is not okay, the current climate here suggests otherwise,” she wrote. “As we witness the drawing out of people’s dirty laundry, aired in newspapers, blogs, emails, Facebook … spanning across social media, for all the world to see and judge our community.”
In a statement emailed Thursday to the Gazette, Superintendent Maria Geryk said the action she wants to see in the community has to do with “modeling for our students how a strong, collaborative community feels, looks, and functions.”
“My hope is that, through Amherst Together, we can continue to cultivate safe spaces for genuine conversations that respect the opinions of others, allows us to share our deep beliefs, and address disagreements with respect, kindness and humanity,” said Geryk, adding that the goal of Amherst Together is to enhance equitable opportunities and inclusion for all students by bridging the gap between schools and the community.
Though a contentious issue surrounding a stay-away order issued against the mother of a Pelham Elementary School student has ignited allegations of racism over the past two months, Ross said she is not referring to anything or anyone specific.
“I’m not talking about anyone in particular,” Ross said. “That’s not the goal. I’m just looking at the overall climate since I’ve been here.”
Ross said the letter, which she referred to as “end of year reflections,” targets the disrespect that affects how some in the community are handling issues.
“I’m feeling a little frustrated about the whole situation,” she said in an interview Thursday. “I just think we should treat people better — we’re in this together and everyone’s affected.”
Ross said she aims to shift the community away from “the toxic environment” that’s emerged in the past few years by encouraging folks to start thinking about next year.
“Next year let’s hope for a better year,” Ross said. “If we start thinking about this early enough maybe we could build some momentum.”
Katherine Appy, chairwoman of the Amherst School Committee, echoed Ross’s sentiments, condemning what she called “adult bullying.”
“Our students are watching that and what is the message to them?” Appy said. “There is a certain lack of compassion in the community narrative.”
Appy and Ross said all of the good work being done in the schools is so often overshadowed by negative comments that lives forever online, giving the wrong message to children and possibly deterring people from joining the community.
“If you’re a family who lives somewhere else and you heard Amherst was a beautiful community and you Google it, you start to see things,” said Ross. “If it wasn’t the age of the internetmaybe it wouldn’t be so bad. I just think people need to take responsibility for their words and actions.”
Ross said that while Amherst is not immune to issues that are playing out nationally, it needs to come together constructively in order to address them.
Asked if racism was an issue in Amherst, Ross said she hesitates to use the term. She said in Amherst, conversations pertaining to race are surface-level and initiated based on false assumptions.
“Our conversations on race do not go deep enough in this community,” said Ross, calling such conversations “dated and polarizing.”
She added, “Sometimes when we’re talking about race and racism we make assumptions so the premise is already flawed.”
Appy said people with negative opinions control the narrative, and she and others in the town aim to widen it to include the many positives.
“I think we have to expand the narrative,” said Appy. “The picture is much bigger and there are a lot of things the community isn’t hearing about, so that’s why I was really happy to see Carol’s letter.”
In that spirit, the letter offers a 20-item list of what Ross considers successes for the schools and the community, including the Amherst Regional High School’s People of Color United doing volunteer work “revitalizing” the homes of Springfield residents, Latino Achievement Night and Black Scholars Rising.
Also included are the African Scholars Program’s recent trip to Senegal and Gambia, the student-led push to change Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day and the exchange between sixth graders and President Barack Obama over racism in America.
Additionally, she said, the district sent 20 students to the Coalition of Schools Educating Boys of Color conference in New York City “to support and strengthen our district’s commitment to the development of our young men of color.”
Geryk also named a pilot gardening project with the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the UMass Family Engagement Review Process among recent successes, as well as the district’s presentations at Department of Elementary and Secondary Education conferences surrounding efforts to create an equitable school system.
“This has been a year of visioning, which has provided a platform for faculty, staff, families, students, and the broader community to engage in meaningful dialogue and provide feedback,” said Geryk.
Ross said since she sent out the email on Tuesday she has been overwhelmed with calls and emails from people with thoughts and ideas, calling that a “beautiful thing.”
“I don’t want to give off the impression I have all the answers,” she said. “Let’s wake up and start to realize where we’re going and start to talk to each other differently.”
Amanda Drane can be contacted at adrane@gazettenet.com.