Westwood boards adopt joint statement condemning hate speech and launch community coalition

The Westwood School Committee and the Westwood Select Board voted Thursday to adopt a joint statement condemning a series of hate incidents in district buildings and to solicit community participation in a newly formed Westwood Community Coalition to Combat Hate Speech.

“We have experienced at least 5 separate incidents of hate speech within Westwood public schools,” School Committee Chair Joanna French said while reading the statement, which cataloged vandalism and slurs and said two of the incidents appeared after Holocaust survivors spoke with students at the middle school. “Each of these acts has been addressed promptly by the school administrators and, where appropriate, by Westwood Police Department,” she added.

The statement, drafted with input from the Human Rights Task Force, calls for community members, families, students, educators, faith leaders and organizations to join the coalition and provides an initial contact email (westwoodcoalition@westwood.k12.ma.us). French said the coalition is organized into four subcommittees: community engagement; education and awareness; data, accountability and response; and a student advisory group. She said the district and coalition leaders will identify subcommittee chairs and make contact details available via a linked, updatable document.

Select Board Chair Mary Anne LeBlanc Cummings and other board members praised the joint statement as a reaffirmation of town values and urged the parties to follow the statement with tangible action. A Select Board member who identified herself as Erin recommended listing who has already joined the coalition and clarifying time commitments and the roles volunteers would play. Superintendent Tim Pivovar said the administration could link a short, living document into the statement rather than embedding extensive detail in the press text and that a town web post could surface the link for broader distribution.

The Select Board moved to adopt the joint statement and to post it with a hyperlink to coalition details; that motion was seconded and carried in roll-call votes recorded as three ayes. The School Committee then voted to approve the statement as amended to include a placeholder link to coalition details and identification of the subcommittee chairs; the committee recorded unanimous support among members present.

The statement notes that some investigations into the incidents remain active and that the district is coordinating with the police department where appropriate. French said the statement is intended as a public acknowledgment and a step toward “restorative justice and repair,” and that the coalition will continue education, dialogue and community engagement over the summer.

Next steps the boards identified during the meeting include posting an updatable coalition summary (a one- to two-page document) linked from the statement, identifying subcommittee chairs and contact information in that linked document, and sustaining coalition meetings through the summer. No disciplinary or investigative timelines were announced at the meeting.

The adoption occurred during a joint session of the Westwood School Committee and the Westwood Select Board on June 10, 2026. Both bodies adjourned after the votes.