NORTHAMPTON — The final School Committee meeting of this year featured some words of caution for the incoming members regarding ethics, with two members nearly considered for censure before a last-minute change to the agenda.
Of the nine incumbent School Committee members (excluding Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra, who chairs the committee), only two — Ward 4’s Michael Stein and Ward 2’s Anat Weisenfreund — will be returning when the committee reconvenes in the new year. All other committee members chose to not seek another term for their current seat, with Ward 3’s Emily Serafy-Cox falling short in a campaign to run for an at-large seat.
The committee meeting for Dec. 11 featured a new business item for reviewing “School Committee Policy on Ethical Standards,” sponsored by members Holly Ghazey and Vice Chair Gwen Agna. But a previous version of the agenda instead had directly called for the possible censure of Stein and Weisenfreund for their conduct during a City Council meeting Dec. 4.
During the School Committee meeting, Ghazey cautioned against using divisive rhetoric when the new committee convenes next year.
“Our discussions have been unnecessarily contentious at times, with accusations that dissenters are not representing the best interest of the children,” Ghazey said. “My hope is that a new school committee can find a way to lay out the pros and cons of an issue, let everyone have their say, take a straw poll if needed to determine whether members have an understanding of the issues or need further debate, and then vote.”
During the City Council meeting, both Stein and Weisenfreund had spoken during the meeting’s public comment session, with Weisenfreund arguing against a proposed financial order on borrowing and appropriating more than $11 million for geothermal and solar projects at three of the district’s schools. Weisenfreund said the spending should be delayed and only approved in the context of the school budget.
“The Northampton Public Schools are in crisis due to chronic and unnecessary underfunding, as borne out by the painful experiences of our students, caregivers, and staff,” Weisenfreund had said. “As a School Committee member, I promise to continue to work to ensure sufficient school funding. Members of the City Council, please remember that our schools are in crisis and children are suffering.”
Stein voiced similar sentiments during the public comment period, saying the city needed to reconsider its spending priorities when it came to the school district.
“In so many areas of the city budget and planning, we see net zero goals driving the discussion at the expense of nearly any other goal, value or service,” Stein said. “We need to begin having broader conversations about how to best use our resources.”
While School Committee policy does not strictly prohibit individual members from making public comments, members are generally expected to emphasize they are speaking on behalf of themselves as individuals and not as part of the committee when they do so. Neither Stein nor Weisenfreund stated they were speaking on their own behalf during the public comments on Dec. 4.
In an interview with the Gazette, Agna said it was that distinction that led to the initial agenda item calling for censure, but that she and Ghazey, who chairs the Rules and Policy Subcommittee, ultimately decided to take a different approach.
“We decided that there would be more interest in our school committee, and in the future school committee, just to be very cognizant of what our policies are around how we work together,” Agna said. “We’re all individuals, but we do need to act as a group at some points.”
The choice by the majority of the School Committee members to not continue their service came as the city underwent a contentious municipal election, with the issue of school spending at the forefront. Sciarra staved off a mayoral challenge from Jillian Duclos, who was backed by local advocacy group Support Our Schools (SOS). Duclos came within fewer than 100 votes of unseating the incumbent, and both Stein and Weisenfreund have expressed support for SOS.
During the Dec. 11 School Committee meeting, Stein responded to Ghazey by criticizing some of the School Committee’s ethics policy as too opaque in its meaning, such as a section stating that members should serve with “no intent to play politics, in any sense of the word,” and another section that states members “should not make statements or promises of how he/she will vote on matters that will come before the Committee.”
“It’s nonsensical. There’s no way we could ever arrive at a shared understanding of what that means that would be useful to us as a body,” Stein said. “No other democratically elected official is not allowed to say what their perspective is on an issue. It makes no sense.”
In an email response, Weisenfreund said that nobody had contacted her beforehand to discuss a possible violation before the item appeared on the agenda.
“It would seem to me that if the intent was to ensure that members abide by the rules, that the chair or vice chair would have first spoken to me and member Stein to address her concerns,” Weisenfreund wrote. “To move to censure with no other process or even a precise allegation seems irregular at best, and terribly non-collaborative or politically motivated at worst.”
Stein also said in a statement to the Gazette he felt the committee policies had been used in an attempt to stifle free speech.
“The ambiguous and confusing language in some of our policies has been interpreted by some to limit the free speech and expression of School Committee members,” Stein said “I reject these extreme interpretations and have already called for the incoming body to clarify this language moving forward.”
Agna also apologized during the School Committee meeting for the original censure measures.
“We made a mistake, and we’re very sorry if there was damage that was done from that mistake, either to the people involved or just to our community norms,” Agna said.