Great Barrington — The repercussions of the Great Barrington Police Department’s actions at W.E.B. Du Bois Regional Middle School over a copy of the book “Gender Queer” continued at the Berkshire Hills Regional School District’s meeting on Thursday, January 25.
The controversy continues over the police department’s warrantless investigation of eighth grade ELA teacher Arantzazu Zuzene Galdos-Shapiro over a copy of the book. The incident, which took place at the school on December 8, was captured by the bodycam of investigating Officer Joseph O’Brien, who responding to an anonymous complaint to the department.
Two items listed on the agenda of the January 25 meeting are a “proposed letter to Great Barrington Police Department” and a “proposed resolution to support students and staff.” Copies of the drafts of the letter and the resolution were not available for review by the public before the meeting started. However, both the letter and the resolution were read out loud by committee member Corey Sprague from Stockbridge, and copies of both were available for review by the committee at the meeting.
“At the last meeting, I was asked to draft some policies, and then I was asked to discuss them today,” Sprague said. “I’m probably misquoting [Vice Chair Richard Dohoney], but he often talks about how the budget needs to reflect what we value. So, I throw out that our policies all need to do the same.”
Sprague said that the district’s Policy Subcommittee discussed policies about relations between the police department and the school district at its meeting on Wednesday, January 24. “The basic gist of that is that there will be changes, additions, and improvements made to those policies, but that whole process will take months,” Sprague said. “In light of that, as it was suggested in our last meeting, it was suggested that the school committee come out with a resolution [on school district relations with the police department] because many people that spoke [at the previous meeting on January 11] mentioned that they were feeling uncertain about how the school committee felt on several issues. That is certainly not our intent.”
Sprague proceeded to read out loud the proposed resolution to support students and staff of the district:
Whereas the Berkshire Hills Regional School Committee is dedicated to fostering an environment that encourages critical thinking, diversity and the free exchange of ideas; and whereas our educational mission is grounded in the principles of academic freedom, intellectual curiosity and pursuit of knowledge; and whereas we recognize the importance of providing students with a well-rounded education that exposes them to a variety of perspectives, ideas and cultures; and whereas the diversity of thought and representation in our curriculum was crucial for developing informed and engaged citizens. Now, therefore, be it resolved at Berkshire Hills Regional School Committee affirms its commitment to the principles of academic creativity, intellectual freedom, diversity, and inclusivity within our educational system, and be it further resolved that we stand in support of students and staff, right to access a broad range of educational materials that reflect diverse experiences and perspectives. And being also resolved that we acknowledge the importance of open dialogue and constructive conversations to address concerns related to educational materials. And we encourage community members to participate in respectful discussions about curriculum content, and be it finally resolved that the Berkshire Hills Regional School Committee will continue to review and uphold our policies to ensure that our educational materials are aligned with the values of our community and the principles of academic freedom.
“It’s perfect,” committee member William Fields said. “It says to the community what we were asked to do [at the previous meeting] and puts it into writing. So there won‘t be any questions where we stand in regards to the issues that have been raised.”
Committee member Jason St. Peter proposed an amendment to add the words “parents and caregivers” to the sentence that reads: “And we encourage community members to participate in respectful discussions about curriculum content.”
St. Peter’s amendment and the motion to accept the resolution were both passed unanimously by the board.
School district letter to Great Barrington Police Department
Sprague proceeded to discuss the draft letter from the school district to the Great Barrington Police Department. “What this dovetails off of is that, while we are conducting our own internal investigation, it potentially makes sense for [the school district] to ask our local police department to have them look inward, and kind of look at what they did or didn’t do in light of those events,” Sprague said, who then proceeded to read out loud the proposed resolution of the letter:
Whereas the Berkshire Hills Regional School Committee is dedicated to maintaining a safe and supportive learning environment for students and staff; and where recent concerns have been raised regarding potential overreach by the local police department in matters related to school affairs; And whereas the Berkshire Hills Regional School Committee values a collaborative relationship with law enforcement agencies while ensuring the protection of the rights and well being of our educational community; And whereas accountability and transparency are essential for maintaining public trust and confidence in both our educational institutions and local law enforcement. Now, therefore, be it resolved and that the Regional School Committee respectfully urges the local police department to initiate a thorough internal investigation into any alleged overreach or involvement in school affairs. It further resolved that the internal investigation should examine the nature and extent of the police department and its interactions with the school community, ensuring that actions taken align with established protocols and respect the rights of students and staff. And be it also resolved that the school committee expects the local police department to provide a transparent and detailed report of the internal investigation findings including any recommended corrective actions if warranted. And be it finally resolved that the school committee remains committed to fostering a positive and cooperative relationship with local law enforcement agencies to enhance the safety and well-being of our education community.
“I think we should edit out the words ‘potential’ and ‘alleged’ in regards to ‘potential overreach,’” Fields said. “I don’t think there was any ‘potential overreach.’ There was an overreach, in my opinion.” Fields’ motion to edit out the words “potential” and “alleged” in the letter was not seconded by any members of the committee.
Before the committee voted on whether or not to approve the letter to the police department, member William Vogt questioned the necessity of it. “Has the police department indicated that it would not make [a report of their internal investigation] public?” Vogt asked. “I just question the necessity for us to go on record encouraging the police department to do something that it’s already agreed to do.”
Committee Chair Stephen Bannon, who also serves as the chair for the Great Barrington Selectboard, said that he did not believe the police department had agreed to make their investigation public. “They are doing an internal investigation, which seems to indicate they aren’t,” Bannon said. “[The Great Barrington Selectboard has] not approved an independent investigation, such as what we are doing with a law firm.”
The committee eventually voted to pass a motion to send the resolution, as drafted, to the police department.
Later on during the committee’s meeting, St. Peter said that a new Memorandum of Understanding between the school district and the police department would require additional work. The memorandum, which is available on the school’s Google Drive, was put into effect on July 1, 2019, and expired on June 30, 2021.
St. Peter said that a new memorandum is being worked on by the Policy Subcommittee and that it would be available for the committee to vote on in either late March or April.
Criticism from school district parents continues
During the public comments portion of the meeting, school district parents continued to express their concerns about how the school district handled the controversies arising from the incident and how it handles matters about the LGBTQA+ community.
Monterey resident Amy Drown, who said that she has a sixth grader in the school district, asked the committee why it started working with the district’s MOU policy about the police department instead of policies around investigations of harassment, threats, and issues connected to students and staff safety. “At the present time, it feels like [there is] really harmful behavior targeting the queer population,” Drown said. “It’s important to me to understand why you started with the police matter, given that [at the previous committee meeting,] you have unequivocally stated that we know this will never happen again, that police will not be allowed in school to investigate a book on a shelf.”
“The short answer to that is that we decided to start on work with a policy, and the policy would inform us on the MOU,” Bannon said in response.
School District Superintendent Peter Dillon added that the school district’s work is ongoing in talking with students about bullying and harassment. “That’s one of the things [the school district’s] investigator is looking into,” Dillon said. “It’s all in discussion, and the MOU is on the back burner right now.”
“At the last meeting, [Bannon said] very vehemently, stated that we need to disrupt the day-to-day business as usual. I have yet to hear that from [W.E.B. Du Bois Regional Middle School Principal Miles Wheat]. Neither he nor anyone has gone into the classroom to speak to my sixth grader about what happened.”
“Actually, we have done quite a bit, but I’ll admit we have done more at the seventh and eighth grade level,” Principal Wheat said in response. “It was an eighth grade classroom that was visited and the [Gay-Straight Alliance] club that Galdos-Shapiro established was for seventh and eighth graders.”
Cheshire resident Lisa Baumgart, who said that her son attends Monument Mountain Regional High School and supported the police department’s investigation at the previous committee meeting, proceeded to read from what she claimed is O’Brien’s report on the investigation. (As of press time, The Berkshire Edge has not been able to obtain the report that Baumgart said she was reading.) “The [complainant] was concerned about images and content in the book ‘Gender Queer,’” Baumgart said. “Two photographs of the book were shown in O’Brien’s report, and he stated that ‘the captions with images in the book discusses a strap-on dildo, and then shows one individual with their pants undone wearing what appears to be a strap-on dildo, and the other individual kneeling down in front and performing oral sex by placing the dildo into their mouth.’”
The Berkshire Edge has reviewed a copy of “Gender Queer” and can confirm that these images are in the book.
Baumgart went on to read from what she said was O’Brien’s report, which she said has made several allegations against Galdos-Shapiro. “If this matter is solely being handled now by the school internally regarding all these issues made by it in the complaint, many parents want to know what are you personally doing to investigate this teacher at this time?” Baumgart said. “On behalf of concerned parents, I have reached out to the District Attorney’s Office, and I’m still waiting for a response.”
None of the members of the school committee responded to Baumgart’s comments.
However, Monterey resident Dan Neilson, a parent of a student at the middle school, responded to Baumgart’s comments. “The definition of obscenity requires that work be taken as a whole,” Neilson said. “If you go straight to the page that gives you a funny feeling and read that page by itself, that’s not the same thing as a work that can be deemed obscene. ‘Gender Queer’ is a coming-of-age story about an artist who confronts many things in the book, including the author’s sexuality and relationship to gender. You really shouldn’t take it out of context, and that’s what Massachusetts obscenity laws state. Massachusetts [laws] also state that the teachers who are doing their job as employees of the school cannot be prosecuted for distributing material to minors. I would like to encourage the school committee to consider policies that reduce police presence in schools. I would also point out that there’s a real need for mental health support in the school … which can go a long way towards addressing the conflicts and bullying, including identity-based bullying, like homophobic bullying and racist bullying that is continuing to happen in the school.”
Great Barrington resident Michael Citrin, who said he has a student in an eighth grade English class at the school, said that the student “basically has received no instruction in this class since this incident.” Citrin went on, “We’re heading into the end of January, and I wanted to hear from the school committee, or someone sitting there today, when my daughter’s going to start receiving instruction again in English? It’s been about six weeks already.”
Galdos-Shapiro took a leave of absence from the school district following the police investigation.
Principal Wheat said in response that the district originally believed that Galdos-Shapiro’s leave would be on a short-term basis. “As it has become clear that this is going to be a longer-term absence, we have posted [a job opening] for a long-term substitute,” Wheat said. “We’ve added more support for the day-to-day [substitute teacher] from the eighth grade interventionists who are familiar with the curriculum. Instruction is happening now. I think that, obviously, in the absence of a high-quality instruction time, nothing is going to seem as good. But I do think the plan that we have in place is moving forward, and when we get a long-term substitute in [the classroom], the situation will become much better.”
