NSBORO parents, don’t panic when you receive an “Urgent Alert” from your kids’ school tomorrow morning. The message should specify that it is just a test.
That is one of the highlights from the Northborough-Southborough Public Schools’ weekly newsletter that I’m sharing.
I’m also sharing news from earlier this summer on how the administration is following up this school year on concerns raised by Southborough parents at the end of the last school year after news broke about racially charged incidents at Neary School.
Safety Preparedness
The administration is asking parents to ensure their phone numbers and emails are “up-to-date and accurate in PowerSchool”.
The “Urgent Alert system” drill should send out test messages to parents by text, phone, and email starting at 9:30 am on Thursday, September 9th. You’ll want to pay attention if you don’t get an alert to your preferred device. (If you don’t follow up, you may also miss urgent news in the future about school cancellations, bus issues or other emergency news.)
The Superintendent’s weekly newsletter also reiterates the district’s general safety practices, its ALICE training, and other details that may be important to parents, like the anonymous its Say Something Anonymous Reporting App, and the anonymous reporting available as part of NSBORO’s Bullying Prevention and Intervention Plan.
You can read more about all of that in the newsletter here. And speaking of reporting incidents . . .
Following up on Neary Incident
In June, Superintendent Gregory Martineau and the Southborough School Committee promised follow up on a push for answers and accountability voiced by parents and community members following national news that broke about incidents at Neary School.
For those that didn’t follow the story — the public outcry was over a purported mock slave auction in a 5th grade classroom, the teacher’s later use (and explanation of) the N word, concerns about how administrators communicated and handled the issues (including purportedly “calling out” a student for raising concerns), plus questions about the number of special education students in one classroom.
In early August, Martineau posted a message that included the Action Plan approved by the School Committee, along with an FAQ (answers to Frequently Asked Questions). You can read his message here.
The plan outlines “Action Steps” for each of the eight goals. It also notes who is responsible for taking action, the progress to date, and what evaluation metrics will be used.
Most of the goals appear to apply to all of the NSBORO districts/committees. The exception is the following goal added only for the Southborough School Committee, specific to investigating the handling of incidents at Neary:
To conduct an after-action review assessment of the incidents at Neary Elementary School to learn from the experience and make improvements in processes.
The action step for that goal was to hire an outside firm “to assess the actions taken and report findings to the SSC. The findings will be used to identify the next steps.” Under progress, the table states that a firm was engaged this summer and had “begun its assessment”.
Those looking for increased transparency, or who have asked that a full report on the original investigation be released, might be disappointed by the FAQs “What can be released as part of an investigation?”.
The response isn’t specific to the Neary investigation. But it previews that report details may not be made public if the administration respects “confidentiality concerns of an accused employee”. Other details may be kept quiet if they involve a student whose parent doesn’t approve publicly disclosing them.
In the FAQ document, the committee also responded to criticism by those who called for an independent investigation and expressed doubt that an “audit” would suffice:
After hearing concerns about the integrity of the internal investigation, the School Committee decided to review the processes and procedures followed. The corroboration of the events was not questioned but rather the timeline, administrative leaves, and the District’s response to the incidents. Therefore, it made sense to have an external firm audit and assess those items rather than repeat the investigation.
Additional goals in the Action Plan are:
- To review investigation procedures for school and district-based investigations, including informal and formal procedures, ensure clear expectations and build school and District leaders’ knowledge and skills
- To increase the capacity of leadership to bring coherence to the work of equity of opportunity by hiring a Director of Equity, Belonging, and Community Engagement.
- To collect disciplinary data PreK-12 and review to make informed decisions on behavior patterns and what additional skills, resources, and knowledge are needed to support students.
- To expand the ways students and caregivers can report their concerns.
- To identify the next level of work from the District Equity Audit.
- To deepen all staff members’ understanding of the District’s work around equity of opportunity and empowering learners to ensure faculty and staff have the knowledge, skills, and confidence to support all learners.
- To ensure the District policies that address reporting incidents, communication, and handling of concerns are reviewed and communicated to caregivers.
As for the FAQs, over 25 Questions & Answers were categorized in five sections:
- School Committee Purview
- What is the School Committee responsible for?
- What is the best method to communicate with the School Committee?
- Who evaluates the Superintendent and what is the process for putting the Superintendent on leave/dismissal?
- Investigation Questions
- What can be released as part of an investigation?
- What is the trigger for an investigation to be initiated?
- What is a reasonable amount of time for an investigation?
- What are the expectations for employees on leave? (The answer includes “What an employee may be asked to do while on administrative leave”)
- Explain the process of who knows what during an investigation.
- Why is the recommendation to do an external audit versus an external investigation?
- What actions/policies are taken/used to resolve issues?
- What does the school district use legal counsel for?
- What should have happened after the first incident in January?
- Data Questions
- What demographic data is available to the public? What Special Education data is available to the public? Where can it be found and/or requested?
- What is Public Records Law? What information can be made available to the public?
- Family Resources
- What supports exist in dealing with students making racial remarks?
- Explain the current roll-out of Say Something.
- Describe the process for filing a complaint (general education vs. Special Education)
- What is the process for class placements? And how does Special Education factor in?
- Do we have a bilingual agency to help families navigate their child(ren)’s education?
- Why don’t we have a sub-separate program in Southborough?
- Explain the Special Education audit.
- Education
- Explain the different types of professional development opportunities for faculty and
- staff
- What is the process for selecting books?
- What are the criteria for a buddy class to join a different grade level?
- How do teachers report concerns? And what support are they provided?
Superintendent Office Hours
The office hours are another follow up to the Neary incidents. Conducting “office hours at the school and District level” was one of the Action Steps in the Action Plan. The intent is to allow another way that “students and caregivers can report their concerns”.
The newsletter described new office hours as providing:
a time and space for parents and guardians to connect with the Superintendent about questions, feedback, or concerns about their student or their experience with The Public Schools of Northborough and Southborough.
The plan had specified that the first session would be in September. It looks like there was a change of plans. So far, only three sessions with the Superintendent appear to be scheduled for the year, starting in late October:
- Monday, October 28, 2024, from 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM – Woodward School Library
- Monday, January 27, 2025, from 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM – Algonquin Regional High School (Career Resource Center)
- Monday, April 28, 2025, from 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM – Lincoln Street School Library
The School Committee has also been holding its own office hours, including a session that took place in August. (No dates have been publicly advertised for September yet.)
