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Residents press Leominster board for clearer parental-rights guidance and question district transition plan
Summary
Two public commenters urged the School Committee to adopt a clear parental-rights policy and raised concerns about language in the district's transgender-student transition plan that they said could permit limiting school–home communications.
Two members of the public used the committee’s June 1 public-comment period to press for clearer parental-rights protections and to raise objections to language they said appears in a district transition plan.
What speakers said: Bob Greska, who identified himself as a Leominster resident, urged the committee to adopt a parental‑rights policy that makes clear schools will notify guardians about illness, injuries, bullying, misconduct, student gender‑identification matters and suicidal thoughts or actions. "They should understand and see and know what's happening with their children," Greska told the committee, arguing for open communication between schools and families.
A second commenter, Josh Natali of Centennial Avenue, said he had reviewed the district’s transition-plan materials and highlighted passages he said authorize different forms of communication so a student could be addressed one way at school and another in front of guardians. Natali said page excerpts show “willingness to hide information from the parents” and pointed to a section he read aloud that asks how school‑home communications will be handled "if the student's guardians are not aware or supportive of the student's gender status." He urged the committee to review the policy language.
District response and context: Committee members thanked both speakers for bringing the concerns forward; presenters and the superintendent did not revise or adopt policy language at the meeting. The committee said public comment items are referred to staff for follow up and directed staff to confirm how the district’s published policies address parent notification and the handling of transition plans. Neither the superintendent nor other staff offered immediate changes during the meeting.
Status and next steps: The matter was not resolved at the meeting. The committee requested staff to provide clarifying information about current district policy and how the transition‑plan template is used; no vote or policy amendment occurred at the June 1 meeting.
