PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The School Committee last week affirmed its commitment to protecting LGBTQ-plus students.

On Wednesday, the committee adopted a Safe Schools Resolution that declares the Pittsfield Public Schools a safe space for all students regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation and a safe space to explore gender identity and/or sexual orientation.

It was brought forward by William Garrity, who was inspired by the resolution made by Worcester School Committee member Susan Mailman. Garrity, who graduated from Taconic High School in 2022, said the school had a "good-sized" population of LGBTQ-plus students.

He asserted that students exist in the schools and that the city needs to ensure they are protected and feel safe.

"It sickens me that the Trump administration wants to go after this group of students just because of who they are. These students deserve to have their identity respected and to receive a fair and proper education," he said.

"It is also clear that the Trump administration is going after schools and states who provide protections for transgender and LGBTQ-plus students, as we have seen with the state of Maine this past weekend [of Feb. 22-23]. Given these attacks, I believe is our obligation to stand up to this bigotry, hate, and, quite frankly, bullying being pushed by the federal government to protect our transgender and LGBTQ plus students."

(A Republican Maine state representative, Laurel Libby, had posted photos and details to Facebook of a high school transgender athlete. She was censured along party lines and the president threatened to withhold funding from the state for not complying with his executive order banning transgender girls from participating in women's sports.)

Garrity said the Worcester School Committee "watered down" Mailman's proposal and removed LGBTQ-plus specific language from it. He's glad not to see these conversations in Pittsfield.

"When a certain group of our students are being targeted for who they are, I believe it's our obligation to clearly condemn this bigotry and hate," he said.

"Back in 2020 after George Floyd was murdered, we fought to ensure Black Lives Matter and to end racist practices in this country, including in our schools. When our transgender and LGBTQ-plus students are being attacked for who they are it is not the time to be saying 'all lives matter,' but instead to specifically call out this bigotry, say 'transgender lives matter,' and fight to protect our transgender and LGBTQ-plus students."

Several community members spoke in support of the resolution during open microphone.

"Right now, I do think it is important for them to hear that the grown-ups in charge are here to protect them, that the school district will protect them when they walk into the school building and keep them safe during that time, which is most of their waking hours," parent Jessica Fried said.

School Committee members were enheartened by the public's support.  

"It's very heartwarming to see so many community members supporting this also, especially in these times and what's going on in the news," Diana Belair said.

"So I know how I personally feel and it really makes me happy to see how the community is behind this also."

Sara Hathaway said the small comforts that people can give to each other right now mean a lot "And I'm just grateful for the sense of community in Pittsfield as a whole and in this room specifically right now."

Dominick Sacco agreed.

"I felt that same feeling being here and realizing that we are all in this together. We've been hurt. We need to heal," he said.

"… I felt this unified front that feels pretty darn good."

The petition brought Taconic teacher Nicholas Colicchio "great joy," especially because it was brought forward by one of the school's alum.

"I want to say that this is a seemingly minor item on our agenda, one that might be easy to overlook or to dismiss, however, it's anything but. I think it is core to who we are as a school district and I want to say that I've had the privilege to be part of our schools and to see this policy in action," he said.

He highlighted the policy's desire to "ensure that all students have the opportunity to express themselves and live authentically."

"I can say that I've witnessed this firsthand and in the four years that I've been part of this school, although I wasn't here when this policy was established, I've seen nothing but respect and adherence to this policy," Colicchio reported.

"And I've seen how students have been allowed to flourish, how students have been allowed to blossom creatively, socially, and intellectually as a result of this policy."

He commended the committee for having this on the agenda "in a time when it seems particularly pressing and important to be talking about these things and when people might be too shy or even too afraid to talk about this."

Fried, who worked with transgender children in the community for many years, thanked the School Committee for its "historic" support of trans and gender-diverse kids in the schools, pointing to the 2016 policy.

"I think It is important at this particular moment to reaffirm the school's position and I say that because I have spoken to many trans kids in the last month and I can tell you that to a person, they are scared. They wake up every day and it seems like, truly, almost every day they read the paper and they have to read about how the executive branch of their federal government is fighting to have them removed from public life as if they could simply cease to exist," she said.

"And that is a heavy burden for anyone to bear, let alone our children, and that is the load that many of our kids are walking into school with every day and we don't want that. We want them to just be kids. We want them to learn their best, to be able to participate in clubs and extracurriculars, and just do the things that kids are supposed to do in high school."

City Councilor at Large Alisa Costa, who attended the meeting, said it's important for students to know they have a strong community behind them.

"It's powerful when you speak up in their defense at a time when people are afraid to do so. It's powerful when we have members of our community standing with you," she said.

"It's really important."

Resident Ann Carey said these are "extremely dangerous" times and it warms her heart to see the city take this stance.

"We're in uncharted waters, and I feel the currents of the (1930s) creeping in," she said.

"So I just want to commend this, Pittsfield, the School Committee, for standing strong and I'm proud of Pittsfield."

Superintendent Joseph Curtis recognized social worker Kelly Shuff-Heck's efforts with the district in 2015 and 2016 to create a policy supporting transgender students.

"We were incredibly appreciative at the time of the School Committee's full endorsement without any doubt or hesitation," he said, adding that it became a model policy for other districts across the state.

PPS LGBTQ+ Resolution & Policy by Brittany Polito

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