By Linda Conner Lambeck

WESTPORT — Focus on results.

That’s what speakers told the Board of Education after a lengthy discussion Thursday about potential Code of Conduct changes and questions regarding a soon-to-be-released survey of the climate in local schools.

“What I care about as a parent is not this stuff, it’s outcomes,” Adrian Curtis, a parent, told the board. “Start fixing things … What is the bar and how do we hit it?”

The meeting came three weeks after Dr. Carol Felder, her husband Richard Anderson and a group of other parents recounted a series of racist incidents that their children have endured at schools in town.

Felder asked the school board for help.

After the meeting Thursday, Felder said some board members seem to be listening and she understands change takes time.

“But when things are intolerable how patient can you be?” she added.

Parents advocate for detailed policy changes

Advocating changes in the disciplinary process, a group of parents sent a letter to school officials Wednesday, outlining suggestions for addressing what they say is an increasing prevalence of antisemitism, racism and overall protected-class harassment in the district. (Read the full letter at the end of this article.)

In the short term, the group wants students who violate anti-bias policies to be blocked from sports and other school leadership positions or clubs during a suspension from classes. They want the punishment to be added to the student’s academic record until completion of a reflective essay and bias training specific to the offense.

They called for bias training to be mandatory for all students.

The group also wants a review of curriculum to make sure students understand biases and how to avoid harming others with their behavior. They suggest community service and volunteering for projects outside overwhelmingly white Westport.

The parents say school officials should keep track of and publicly account for the number of cases and suspensions reported for violating policies.

The current Code of Conduct, according to the parents, has loopholes that fail to keep bullying victims safe.

Consequences for hate speech, bullying

Donisha Diagne, a parent who spoke at the meeting, said the district should look to others that have successfully tackled the issue. She cited Stratford public schools as having a policy that clearly defines hate speech and bullying and spells out the outcome for offenses.

“I know you have a lot in front of you, but you need to be more prescriptive,” Diagne said. “This is what happens if you do x, y and z.”

Consequences also need to be spelled out for repeat offenses, such as persistent use of the “n-word,” she said.

Survey of school climate sparks questions

The school climate survey, administered every two years, is an online questionnaire given in the spring to students, parents and staff. It touches on how connected students feel to their schools, how safe they feel and how exciting their classes are.

After two meetings of tweaking survey questions, the document was approved by a 5-2 vote Thursday, with board members Robert Harrington and Jill Dillon dissenting.

Dillon had said she wanted some of the questions worded so students and teachers could base them on personal experiences. She also wanted a question for teachers addressing their comfort in discussing race with students broadened to include other current events, such as the terror attacks last Oct. 7 in Israel.

Harrington questioned the impactfulness of the survey in light of what parents have been telling the board. “There are pages and pages of questions, but I feel as a board we don’t rarely talk or address the issue,” he said.

Harrington said he is not concerned about having such a discussion by board members.

During public comment several speakers suggested the survey could be improved.

Monique Hodges said she doesn’t have any children in Westport schools, but said what she is hearing about the district is alarming.

As for the survey helping to inform the district, Hodges said, “If something is not happening it’s because you don’t want it to happen.”

Another speaker, Camilo Riano, who has complained about the survey in the past, called the exercise a joke.

“There is an agenda behind it,” said Riano, adding that he feels the survey questions are leading, it has no statistical meaning and tries to promote a certain ideology.

Update in the works for discipline policy

The update on the district’s student discipline policy was presented by board member Kevin Christie, who said the still-in-progress document is in its fifth iteration.

“We are close to the finish line,” Christie said.

The 29-page document lists many ways the district seeks to promote respect of self, others and property through discipline practices, education and reinforcement.

A Code of Conduct that goes with the policy is generally an administrative task, but Supt. of Schools Thomas Scarice is bringing the document to the board later this month for feedback and approval.

The code lists dozens of potential infractions and a range of consequences. The hope is that the document will outline specific, predictable outcomes based on infractions without violating privacy laws.

“There is definitely an appetite and a call for what happens next,” Scarice said. Judgments, he added, have to be aligned with community values.

The plan is to create a document that will have a glossary of terms, so words like “bully” and “suspension” are defined.

The cut and dry of some situations, however, depends, administrators told the board.

“There is not a direct line for every infraction,” said Assistant Supt. Michael Rizzo. “You need to consider the context of the situation.”

Scarice said there is also a difference between zero tolerance for certain behaviors and a zero tolerance policy. The latter generally levels the most severe penalty every time something happens. Sometimes that is dictated by the state.

For example, there is a mandatory one-year expulsion for a student caught bringing a firearm to school.

Harrington asked what the range of consequences would be for someone who repeatedly used the word gorilla or the n-word to taunt another student. Scarice said there is a range of consequences that could include expulsion.

Student reps provide insights

Calum Magidan, a Staples High School junior and student representative to the school board, told the panel the best way to make sure students are aware of the conduct policy is to make it part of the curriculum.

He said all students deserve second chances, but also need to show they are aware of what they did wrong.

“Just suspension is not going to solve the problem,” added Anya Nair, a Staples senior and the other board’s other student rep.

Nair said some students don’t know when and who to reach out to if they are being harassed. “It’s not discussed a lot,” she said.

Anti-bias policies debated, value questioned

During public comment, speaker Mary Patel suggested the board get a independent third-party to evaluate its handling of bias complaints.

Riano, who ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the school board last November, told the panel its policies promoting diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, contribute to the problem.

He called DEI hate speech. “You separate our kids into identity groups, you tell them that America is a racist nation, you divide the groups into oppressors and oppressed, you promote animosity among the groups and when the kids begin to misbehave, you wash your hands and blame the parents or the town,” Riano said.

Tara Welch, standing beside her biracial son, disagreed, telling the board that the district has failed her child.

Curtis, and his wife Rosie told the board is failing parents if its policy doesn’t differentiate the guilty from the wrongly or falsely accused.

As it is, Curtis said transparency is lacking and fair investigations into accusations are not taking place.

“There is no due process to protect the students’ legal right to an education,” he said. “Racism, antisemitism, discrimination will always spread as a hate virus if an open dialogue doesn’t happen.”

Freelance writer Linda Conner Lambeck, a reporter for more than four decades at the Connecticut Post and other Hearst publications, is a member of the Education Writers Association.

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Following is the letter sent by parents to school officials regarding disciplinary steps they feel should be implemented in cases of racist, antisemitic and other biased bullying and speech by students.