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Westerly panel approves equity-audit subcommittee; resident urges counsel, clearer process after transgender-policy workshop
Summary
The School Committee approved a 10-member equity-audit subcommittee (chair and alternate from the committee, one administrator, two teachers, four parents/residents, two student reps and one social worker/school psychologist). In public comment, resident Lauren Nocera urged clearer procedures, counsel in the room, and attention to safety for transgender and gender-diverse students following a recent workshop.
The Westerly School Committee voted Sept. 18 to form an equity-audit subcommittee with the following makeup: a school-committee chair and alternate, one district administrator, two district teachers, four parents/residents, two student representatives and one social worker or school psychologist. Committee members discussed outreach and recruitment, including social-media posts and application questions to screen candidates, and asked that the chair draft an invitation to be shared by district staff.
Later in the meeting, Westerly resident and clinical social worker Lauren Nocera used the non-agenda public comment period to respond to a recent transgender-policy workshop held by the district. Nocera said the workshop’s tone had been civil but warned that public debates of this nature can be "dangerous to transgender and gender-diverse kids and their families," urged the committee to correct factual inaccuracies raised at the workshop, and recommended that legal counsel be present at future sessions to answer law-related questions in public. She also urged clearer signage and directions for meeting locations (Babcock Hall) and recommended that any further workshops include opportunities for public comment and expert testimony rather than being tacked on at the end of a longer agenda.
Committee members responded in part by saying the workshop was intended as an internal starting point and that any formal policy changes would follow the district’s first-read/second-read process with public notice and opportunities for comment. Several members agreed that future sessions should better accommodate public access and the presence of counsel.
The committee also noted correspondence it had received on the subject, including letters related to the workshop and a letter from local fire-department leadership that the chair summarized earlier in the meeting.
