Residents urge all‑school response and caution after Concord scarecrow incidents; police identified a suspect, commenters say
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Summary
During public comment residents called on the Concord‑Carlisle school committee to adopt a formal response policy for hateful incidents; speakers praised the police for identifying a suspect in recent scarecrow displays and urged the committee to follow law‑enforcement investigations rather than inflame public debate.
Several members of the public used the school‑committee’s public comment period to press the district for clearer, more public responses to a series of recent hate‑linked incidents.
John Safier, who identified himself as a longtime education consultant and parent, recommended the committee adopt a policy directing administrators to convene an "all‑school response" when hateful incidents occur so that "everybody in the entire school community hears that message at one time," reinforcing expectations of inclusion and student leadership in follow‑up. "A school committee by Massachusetts law has the power to make policy... I’d like to suggest that the school committee make a policy that when there are hateful incidents... there should be an all‑school response," Safier said.
In separate remarks, Ellen Hackenbush (identified in public comment) praised the Concord Police for identifying a suspect in the scarecrow incidents and urged citizens to allow law enforcement and the courts to proceed: "I am so happy that the Concord Police has successfully identified this old perpetrator of the hateful scarecrow displays... Now these shameful events are on the hands of the courts as they should be." Hackenbush also cautioned the public against assigning collective blame and asked the district to make proactive statements rebutting bigoted acts.
Pat Brewer and Kristen Haggerty, among others, said the committee should offer more opportunities for public and committee members to discuss race, bias and safety in schools; Brewer said she had written to a committee member about the need for candid discussion and had not received a response, urging the board to place the topic on the agenda for fuller community engagement. Haggerty urged the committee to intentionally include METCO representatives and other community delegates in follow‑up conversations.
Committee members acknowledged the comments and noted that several related items (the antisemitism coalition, student speaker participation, and future public forums) have been discussed in recent meetings. No formal policy vote took place at the Dec. 17 meeting; members signaled interest in continued dialogue and in coordination with police and community groups.