Select Board eyes road ahead in antisemitism fight
“We are committing to act,” Select Board Chair Mark Howell said Monday night, “and we should be sponsoring some actions.”
Efforts to address antisemitism in Acton could include everything from a new reporting system to youth sports huddles on local fields.
As residents call for action, town leaders are teeing up a busy month of outreach and public discussions.
“We are committing to act,” Select Board Chair Mark Howell said Monday night, “and we should be sponsoring some actions.”
This week’s Select Board meeting came just under a month after the Anti-Defamation League, the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, and the Mayer Brown law firm alleged years of unchecked hate in Acton public schools in a legal filing.
After hundreds packed recent public meetings, Howell and panel colleagues reviewed their options.
On one front, Select Board member Paul Boehm echoed transparency demands.
Acton’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Commission has pitched creating a townwide hate incident reporting system. Other such avenues already exist within the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office and at the state level.
While those programs might be worth promoting, Select Board members said they want more information and are considering whether the town should go ahead with its own system.
Alongside data, Howell said, “we need to get to people where they are.” He was one of several board members urging wide-ranging community conversations.
“We should be calling on groups like the youth sports leagues to take a minute, take a knee, and talk about this kind of thing,” he said.
Howell floated a cultural fair or a panel discussion among educators. Members said the DEI Commission could take a prominent role in the town’s response. The Select Board’s Mary Hartman said she and her colleagues must also stay involved.
School officials say they’re bound by confidentiality laws that limit what they can divulge about individual incidents. (Critics have skewered this defense and say school leaders could be saying more.)
Administrators and School Committee members say they’re nonetheless ready to tackle ongoing problems.
Public input
On Monday night, resident Deborah Dorfman said she appreciates planned outreach from the Select Board but asserted “more is needed” and said officials should ensure Jewish residents have a seat at the table in upcoming discussions.
James Nager thanked leaders for their efforts but said he wants to hear more “passion.” He questioned some incident reporting suggestions. “My son is not going to go tell the teacher every time a penny falls by his feet as he walks in the corridor,” he said.
Select Board members informally agreed to pick up the conversation at its next session on August 11. When they reconvene, members hope to coalesce around certain data collection and community education recommendations.
The DEI Commission is scheduled to meet August 12.
CCHS School Committee Chair Tracey Marano and committee member Michael Williams attended Monday’s Select Board meeting but did not speak. The School Committee next meets August 20.
