The Massachusetts Association of School Committees deplores the indefensible actions of the Minneapolis police that resulted in the murder of George Floyd. We further call upon all of our national, state and local leaders to recognize that Mr. Floyd’s death and the demands of millions of Americans to respond must be addressed with, not only swift and fair justice, but also with a national commitment to secure freedom from hate, bigotry, and social and economic injustice.
As school leaders, we must look to those policies, practices and procedures that often unintentionally produce inequitable outcomes for children at risk and adopt strong anti-racism policy statements locally to show our commitment to identify, challenge and change values, structures and behaviors that can create systemic racism.
We call upon our colleagues and constituents at every level of government and in every school district to use their positions as leaders, educators and mentors to the current and future generations to speak out and use their classrooms, schools and their voices as instruments for securing social and economic justice for our students, their families, and their communities and their nation. We must move with purpose to ensure that the we, as a people, act deliberately to demonstrate to all Americans that prejudice and hate will not be tolerated and will be challenged at every turn.
| Deborah Davis Northeast Metro Technical School Committee President, MASC |
Mildred Lefebvre Holyoke School Committee Chair, MASC Minority Caucus |
And the Board of Directors of MASC:
Beverley Griffin-Dunne, Peabody and Essex Technical School Committee
Diane Baum, Acton Boxborough School Committee
Jason Fraser, Silver Lake Regional School Committee
Michelle Bodin-Hettinger, Marlborough School Committee
Laura Fallon, Northampton School Committee
Andrea Wadsworth, Lee School Committee
Nicole Bartlett, Mashpee School Committee
Donald Erickson, Baypath Vocational Technical School Committee
Irene Feliciano-Simms, Holyoke School Committee
B. Ellen Holmes, Ashburnham-Westminster, President-Elect
Denise Hurst, Springfield, Vice President
Stacey Rizzo, Revere, Secretary-Treasurer
Devin Sheehan, Holyoke, Past President and Director, National School Boards Association
Jacob Oliveira, Ludlow, and Director, National School Boards Association