Pittsfield Schools Revisiting Contact Information Policy After Teacher Allegation
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Parents, teachers, and people who represent both roles on Wednesday spoke passionately about allegations that a teacher collected personal information from students.
A mother reported that a Taconic High School educator gathered student contact information, such as email and phone number, via a new school year form and wasn't pleased with the administration's response.
Staff and parents during the School Committee meeting defended due process while investigating such allegations, backed the veteran teacher, who was not named, and denounced social media slander.
"I do believe it's important that we provide our staff with a fair and transparent process. That said, we also have a responsibility to keep our students safe and to ensure concerns are taken seriously," Superintendent Latifah Phillips said.
"So, by no means are we saying that parents shouldn't bring their concerns to their principal, to their teacher, or to my office. We are going to receive the concerns. We're going to take them seriously, but we're also going to ensure that our staff has a fair and consistent due process. And I don't think that those two values have to be in conflict with each other."
On Tuesday, the Policy subcommittee will further discuss Pittsfield Public Schools' rules around channels of communication between staff and students.
PPS released a statement last week explaining that concerns were raised about an educator collecting students' personal contact information on a "new school year form." The district found that the collection of information for emergency purposes did not violate its policy for electronic communication with students, which requires that communication to students' personal phones or email be through official district devices or applications.
At the same time, it was recognized that the situation raised important questions about how student information is collected and handled, and school leaders are reviewing procedures to ensure they clearly define who can collect student information, why it can be collected, how it is protected, and how families are informed.
Resident Tina Jones, during public comment, said she reported the teacher and reached out to The Berkshire Eagle after the teacher "demanded" the information on Aug. 31 and PPS took two weeks to notify parents.
"I see other people's points of view, and they don't want their teacher attacked, and personally, if the school had done their due diligence, this wouldn't have even been an occurrence," she said.
School Committee member Ciara Batory said her child had their information requested and found out about it from another parent. She would like to know if her underage student is being contacted by an adult, and said the situation wouldn't have been blown out of proportion if parents learned about the incident outside of social media.
"But then again, we're not being honest with our parents, and parents are up in arms. They're hearing things of a new thing every day that's happening, and I think that we're not trying to make it so teachers are walking on eggshells in any way," she said.
"We know that that's a hard job, but I think that the district, they do need to take control when a situation like this happens. They need to release something ASAP so that we're not getting our information from social media because I do think that that is a huge problem."
Jesse Cook-Dubin, a father of two Pittsfield High School students, said teachers have not been adequately trained on this policy, which he said was adopted "hastily" and has clear shortcomings.
He accused the complainant and Batory of inciting outrage online and contributing to defamatory comments.
"The online outrage isn't keeping our children safe. If anything, it's teaching them that the way to get attention is to attack people on the internet. It's making parents believe that our schools are run by predators, and it's discouraging the best educators from working here," Cook-Dubin said.
"This committee should denounce this filth and the people spreading it."
The communication from PPS on Sept. 15 explains there are legitimate school-related circumstances in which student contact information may be collected: certain field trips, athletic activities, clubs, internships, cooperative education experiences and emergency situations.
The policy subcommittee will determine whether additional guidance or procedures could strengthen our practices.
School Committee member Heather McNeice expressed deep concern about what they witnessed over the past week, "and about the impact that public accusations, speculation, and incomplete information can have on our educators and on our school community."
She said parents absolutely have the right to raise concerns and advocate for their children, "but taking a concern seriously is not the same as accepting an allegation as fact," and "a social media post is not an investigation, a comment thread is not due process, and public opinion should never replace a fair examination of the facts."
"As an educator of 30 years, I worry about the message this sends to our teachers. We ask them to build relationships, connect with students and families, and go above and beyond. We cannot expect to retain great educators if they believe one accusation can become a public judgment before an appropriate process has occurred," she added.
"As a member of the policy committee that is meeting Tuesday night, I welcome reviewing our policies regarding personal cell phones and social media, and I insist that that conversation also include our responsibilities as elected School Committee members and how it pertains to us. Our staff policy says these boundaries exist to maintain professionalism, protect relationships, and ensure a safe and respectful school environment."
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