Commenters spring to Amherst superintendent’s defense before school board

Amherst Regional Superintendent E. Xiomara Herman won support at a recent Regional School Committee meeting. TOWN OF AMHERST
Published: 01-30-2025 5:18 PM |
AMHERST — Superintendent E. Xiomara Herman’s work to promote diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, and to combat a status quo in the schools that has been harmful to students, is winning praise from some in the community.
“We finally have someone who is qualified, knows what to do and has the heart to do it,” Lamicko Magee, the Amherst Regional High School’s dean of students, told the Regional School Committee on Tuesday.
Magee spoke to the committee following the recent release of anonymous allegations by administrators in the district outlining a series of concerns with Herman’s leadership, calling it “throwing rocks and hiding hands” due to their not putting their names to the contentions.
The four-page document, released on Jan. 17, outlines allegations of threats of physical harm, of creating a hostile work environment, and sexual and workplace harassment under Herman’s watch. Some of those behind the letter say they had privately met with two School Committee members to discuss their concerns on Dec. 17. Herman has since publicly defended her leadership.
“We cannot let them destroy her and send her away,” Magee said. “We have to protect her and shore her up to be able to do this kind of work.”
Magee is also a member of the ad hoc Black Caucus that began in 2023 when there were reports of and then an investigation of a trans students being harmed by staff members who intentionally misgendered, misnamed, and dismissed the safety concerns of a parent’s child, who was potentially suicidal.
“What better person can we have right now than someone who is qualified and highly committed to protecting the most vulnerable, to bringing about equity?” Magee asked.
In addition to a handful of letters of public comment in support of Herman, others spoke during the meeting to defend Herman.
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“She arrived at a time when change was desperately needed, and yet it seem her efforts toward change have been met with resistance,” said Ali Wicks-Lim, a member of what is called the LGBTQIA+ Caucus, which in the summer of 2023 organized a protest following the allegations of harms to trans and nonbinary students at the middle school. “She’s faced a series of relentless and anonymous and personal attacks — she’s been held to impossible standards.”
Wicks-Lim praised Herman’s student-focused strategies to address needs and shortcomings in protecting trans and queer students, saying the superintendent has exceeded demands and been responsive even when there are disagreements.
“We’ve experienced her as welcoming, committed, professional and accessible,” Wicks-Lim said.
Also speaking to the committee was Amherst Pelham Education Association President Georgia Malcolm, who said Herman is being criticized because she is a Black woman, whereas white administrators wouldn’t be questioned in the same way.
“You guys gave her a task based on feedback from the community, because she possessed the characteristics you were asking for: accountability, transparency,” Malcolm said. “She has inherited a cesspool, essentially.”
While the Regional School Committee hasn’t yet publicly responded to the allegations — though Herman requested an investigation during an initial executive session — Amherst representative Irv Rhodes read a letter into the record calling on his colleagues to craft a statement that will confront the anonymous letter and not allow rumor, innuendo, misinformation and disinformation to rule the day.
“In my opinion, there will be no winners. The big loser that will be, and is now the loser, is the Amherst and the regional school system,” Rhodes said. “Once again we find ourselves facing an institutional crisis.
“Mischief loves a vacuum,” Rhodes said.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.