AMHERST — A union representing teachers, paraprofessionals and clerical staff in the Amherst-Pelham public schools is renewing a call for action, first delivered to the Amherst Regional School Committee more than a year ago, that includes a 10-point plan for addressing racism against Black employees.

Citing disproportionate discipline given to Black staff, insensitive racial comments directed at them and other issues, Irene LaRoche, the acting president of the Amherst Pelham Education Association, told the school committee Tuesday that the union wants to present and then review data at a future meeting.

“We’d like to share that with you and examine it,” LaRoche said. “But this call to action is having to come back because we’re failing to see your action on this.”

The plan, first delivered in February 2024, asks for a commitment to the recruitment, hiring and retention of African American staff, including administrators; hiring an independent investigator to look into racial discrimination against staff of color; and that anyone who is found to have racially discriminated against other staff and/or students be reprimanded and undergo continuous anti-racism training.

Other parts of the plan seek a policy mandating anti-racism training for school committee members, district administrators and staff; including African American staff on all hiring committees; creating an Office of Inclusion, Equity and Belonging; and appointment of a chief equity officer.

During public comment at the meeting, Rodney Madison, who teaches at the middle school, told the committee that he is among the Black educators with concerns about major conflicts, racial discrimination and institutional racism at that building.

He mentioned an incident during an assembly honoring Martin Luther King Jr. in which another teacher told Black colleagues that Black Lives Matter is a terrorist organization that was left unaddressed by administrators.

“Either they fail to recognize, with overwhelming evidence, racism or they’re not willing to even acknowledge it,” Madison said. “And it’s been very frustrating.”

He also called the atmosphere at the middle school a “crisis situation.” “At this point we’re at the boiling point,” Madison said.

The union initially made its call for action after a self-described Black immigrant woman withdrew from consideration to be the interim principal at the middle school. Her withdrawal came after a parent expressed concerns that she hadn’t effectively intervened when bullying of LGBTQ students was taking place.

The school committee was again asked by staff to reinvigorate the School Equity Task Force to address racial issues.

During the school committee meeting, Amherst representative Bridget Hynes presented the annual report from the School Equity Advisory Committee, with recommendations developed from weekly meetings with parents and caregivers of low-income, gay and trans, Black, Indigenous and people of color and special needs students.

The committee voted to adopt a measure that it “reaffirms its support to SEAC and commits to request performance measures district wide related to equity in the annual superintendent’s goals. In addition, it approves of the parent led format, proposed 2025-2026 calendar for SEAC, and its outreach and communications plan.”

SEAC’s goals, Hynes said, are that all students have access to schools and achieve equitable excellence and sense of belonging, and where school is a place they feel welcome and they feel seen.

Hynes said there is still a significant gap in outcomes for students, even with a more inclusive environment. These are shown among ninth graders in 2023, with 92% of white students passing all classes, but only 50% of Black students doing so.

“These numbers are really discouraging by different subgroups and we can see that our marginalized students are not doing as well as our white students,” Hynes said.

There are also discipline disparities, with Hispanic, multi-racial and Black students being disciplined at four times the rate of white students. “It’s a striking amount of discipline disparities,” Hynes said.

To deal with the academic issues, SEAC is suggesting increased supports in eighth and ninth grades, equitable access for advanced placement courses and strategic interventions. For discipline, SEAC wants a schoolwide restorative justice program, consistent and equitable disciplinary policies and a commitment to robust behavioral health supports.

Hynes noted that SEAC is the latest iteration of this work, which began in 1992 as the Becoming a Multicultural School District, developed at the time of a federal discrimination lawsuit against the schools, and continued in 2014 when the School Equity Task Force was created as a coalition of parents and educators.

Amherst representative Irv Rhodes, who previously had a leadership role for the School Equity Task Force, said plans need to be done for K-12.

“We have failed for a number of years dramatically in terms of serving low-income students, minority students, in this district, and it starts at the elementary schools,” Rhodes said.

Leverett representative Tim Shores said the committee needs to think about how to reconcile the contents of SEAC’s report with the public comments at multiple meetings about Black staff experiencing racism, with SEAC offering no plan to address that.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.