Our community and our country have been through a lot over the past few years.  The pandemic, rising violence, and political divisions both here and abroad have caused stress for everyone, including—and perhaps most tragically—our teenagers.  

Unfortunately, these literal and metaphorical diseases are not abstract concepts for the Masconomet community. Since 2020, we have seen a sharp increase in disrespectful dialogue and unreasonable expectations directed at teachers, staff, administrators, parents, community members, and school committee members.  This includes direct threats to individuals and groups made by email, social media, and—in the past 24 hours—via the US Postal Service.  We recognize and celebrate diversity of thought and opinion, but we cannot and will not tolerate these threats.  

Tonight’s School Committee meeting will be rescheduled so that we can reflect on how we can move forward in a productive way.  We respectfully call for adults in our community to pause for a moment and remember that we share common goals: to ensure that our students have a safe environment in which to master our challenging curriculum and have the communication, problem solving and social skills to become happy, well-functioning members of our society.  

Sincerely,

Tasha Cooper (she/her), Chair

Terri Teleen (she/her), Vice Chair

Masconomet Regional School Committee