Parents and residents confront school leaders over DEI materials; board and staff outline existing policies

Several residents used the public forum at the May 27 Board of School Committee meeting to press the district for more transparency after they said diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) materials used in staff training or classroom assignments were shared with students and then restricted from distribution outside schools.

At the start of the forum, Camille Chaffee said a memo from the district’s executive director of student engagement indicated a “cultural fluency training PowerPoint” had been shared as part of a class assignment, and she alleged the memo instructed staff that slides “should not be shared outside of the school…or even local press.” Chaffee told the board she regarded the combination of classroom use and guidance to withhold the material from families as “deeply problematic,” and used the term “grooming” — later defining it…