001to the of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible liberty and justice for all thank you hey I'm going to ask for approval to retain lock Lord attorney Karen gry as Bond counsel I recommend approval to retain locklo attorney Karen gry for a flat fee of 10,000 inclusive of dispersements her fee is reimbursable to prepare documents required for stage two legislation this would include memorialized resolutions for the member towns and the Drafting and submission of legislation Karen has done the previous Bond work for Cho dating back to 2008 so move second questions AR we favor 10,000 up front when it's reversable if we don't get bond is that correct is that the way no it has nothing to do with the bond the bond
002is required for the part of the stage two the stage two we have going forward it's reimbursable the way they write it whether it passes or not it gets reimbursed we get reimbursed to us right well why we just pay her if it goes through the other way instead of giving her the money up front well you have to pay her to do the work the bond has to happen it doesn't if the bond doesn't go through we get the money back correct so the bond you have to have the bond she has to write the legislation in order to have the bond on the ballot that's how you get a bond on the ballot so in order to do that she has to write that so that happens before the vote because it has
003to go in front of the legislature we have to do the bond either way we have to do the bond for the school improvements or for the other am I correct on that so we have we we'll have to go out to bond either way either way but the legislation uh is she has to write it prior to the vote because you have to have it on the legislation's um docket so the bond reimburses us not her correct a did you have a question um it was similar so it was just GNA remind everybody uh if everybody could use their microphones tonight I would appreciate sorry that's okay uh just a simple question why can't BR CSM cover this they have 12 lawyers in there y um John's here but they they're not Bond Council
004this is a very specific kind of uh request but John can jump in and add I am not Bond counsel District I'm not qualified to be um there is a publication known as the red book there are probably my guess is maybe six or eight John just put the microphone a little higher hi there are probably six or eight lawyers um who are qualified to oversee um and do the preparations for the issuance of of bonds and legislation and um I'm not one of them um it has never been part of what I do for the district questions Larry again does slam have any the people that can do this no this is specific to the state so this hasn't regardless of the architect like you the towns all have Bond Council when they go
005out to bond they have to do the same thing questions need to vote all those in favor who's opposed thank you Larry the next agenda item is a vote of public censure in regards to member poly Hopkins a vote of censure has not previously been taken by this school committee I'd like to be clear about what this potential Center does and does not do a vote of public centure does not violate Miss Hopkins First Amendment rights any vote taken tonight doesn't limit anyone's right to say whatever they'd like on any platform be it public private or social media what a vote of public centure does do quite simply is give the school committee the opportunity to discuss if the actions taken by Miss Hopkins so greatly violate our code of basic management principles and ethical
006standards for school committee members that they deserve rebuke I would remind school committee members that tonight is not the opportunity to speak about the teacher about whom the post in question was written this is not the time to discuss this teacher's job performance or any qualms you may have with this teacher personally should you have an issue with the job performance of any chero teacher or staff there is a procedure as detailed in letter F of our rules of conduct I will ask you all to refrain from using the name of the teacher who is referenced in the post I would further remind school committee members that this agenda item is narrow it is simply request to Cent your school Committee Member Polly Hopkins this is not an opportunity to discuss any other members or
007other potential violations of our code of conduct this agenda item is to discuss the actions of member Hopkins as it relates to her performance as a school Committee Member only it is not an opportunity to discuss her outside of that role I would ask that this not become a back and forth discussion between school committee members please refrain from H Having side conversations as well I'm going to ask each School Committee Member to give their thoughts first I will then give the public an opportunity to speak I would ask that members of the public keep your comments to about two to three minutes each in an effort to be fair please do do not yield your time it makes the meeting very chaotic if your comments cannot be made within the two to three minutes
008I will ask you to end your comments at the end of your time and we'll see if there is time for you to return the microphone at the end of the meeting after I will return to the school committee for a final comment from each member I will then ask each member to vote using the roll call method where we will each speak our vote into the record finally please remember to use the microphones going to begin with member McQuade who requested this agenda item and then miss Hopkins will speak after member mcade thank you thank you I I'd like to start as we typically do with a motion so I'll start with my motion first Andrew I don't know if you're going to explain what happened but I'm still not clear what this is
009where these comments were made I I know it's it's been said that we all know well we all don't know with this so explain the scenario that will be born out I think in the comments what's that that'll be borne out in the comments okay so starting with the motion um in accordance with the chah host school committee's rules of conduct section 5A which states quote in the event that the school committee determines after affording written notice in a public hearing that a member of the school committee has violated the rules of conduct the school committee may vote in public public session to censure that member I make a motion to formally censure School Committee Member paully Hopkins for stating quote someone should check on Sandra La after her notorious role playing golden Myer she
010leapt onto the anti-racist bandwagon and whole bodily supported the arttf at chero she must be splitting in two between support for Israel and Hamas comrades should support comrades snort end quote in violation of the chero school committee's rules of conduct section 3F which states quote individual School Committee Member concerns about employee performance and or character shall be brought to the attention of the superint superintendent and chair in section 4A which states all members of the school committee are bound by the code of basic management principles and ethical standards for school committee members and specifically sections 16 and 17 of the code which states the chero school committee accepts the obligation to operate the public schools in accordance with the fundamental principles and standards of school management which principles include but are not limited to the
011following 16 avoid criticizing employees publicly 17 strive to promote harmonious working relations with all school committee members and School staff that are based on mutual respect fairness and openness and quote and that is uh my motion uh if there's a second then I would have comments okay at our last school committee meeting Nea Cho president Vin lewit shared that with the committee the statement I just read as part of my motion I hope the school committee agrees with me that this is a plain violation of our rules of conduct member Hopkins names a School employee speaks specifically to this employes work at chero not just work conducted out side of the district and then member Hopkins disparages this employee by stating that she supports Hamas a terrorist organization that massacred over 1100 people and took
012over 200 people hostage as part of their October 7th 2023 attack on Israel I really can't believe that we're doing this is the just I'm gonna just be human for a second quite frankly this on its own should be sufficient evidence to vote in in favor of the censure period however with that said I will share a brief few brief comments first I am not aware of any instance since becoming aware of this in which member Hopkins has shown any remorse for her statement hiding behind the first amendment is not an act of Bravery quite the opposite it is an act of cowardice because in doing so member Hopkins does not hold herself in the least bit accountable for what she said but rather that it is her right to say what she said let's
013be very clear we are not debating Paulie's First Amendment right this evening nothing about this motion limits Paulie's right to speak in inflammatory terms we as a school committee are exercising our First Amendment right to object to the substance of what pully shared our rules of conduct appropriately provide this committee with a forum to object and this meeting and this vote is the appropriate forum and I do object to this flagrant violation of our rules of conduct and you should too while no one may read the minutes of the chero school committee in even a few short years from now it will not change that member Hopkins statement is now part of the chero school district's official record and I would like the record to be clear that when presented with this hateful anti-semitic language
014the school committee did not choose to just stand by this post is anti-Semitic member Hopkins statement would not exist in its current form absent her reference to this employee being Jewish if all member Hopkins is concerned about is this employes liberalness then why is member Hopkins interested in this employees position on the Israel Hamas war and not let's say the Ukrainian war of course our employees being Jewish is reflected in this post I would also like to note at our September 12th meeting 20123 meeting we reviewed the rules of conduct member Popkins was present for that meeting any member could have recommended revisions and we chose not to member Hopkins is not a victim she chose her words they did not slip out her of her mouth in fact she typed them and she chose
015to State them I ask you to join me in making your own choice this evening to voice that this is a clear violation of our rules of conduct and must be formally censured thank you yes um excuse me first of all Andrew um let me just address what you believe to be support for Hamas is not support for either side it is absolutely a neutral statement if you read it on any kind of War I don't make statements supporting one side or another but if you were to ask me I have been in constant contact for four years with Rhode Island pro Israel Center working with them to Define these movements going on of I I don't know how you'd want to term them liberal black lives matter whatever is going on you can check
016with them if you'd like but on October 8th I sent an email to my friends at pro Israel Center and I I'm not going to disclose what it said it was a very personal email so it does not have anything to do with that with that being said I think it's a bit of a reach so thank you Andrew this attempt at ridiculous political Shenanigans is why parents are becoming increasingly enraged and engaged in our school district and its politics an accusation has been made that I broke a rule I did not it is important that we address these issues through open dialogue respectful debate and collaborative efforts rather than resorting to censoring censuring fellow members we would also discuss uh excuse me we should also discuss the overall purpose of being here is it
017to determine where to draw the line and uphold basic management PR principles should we call these rules of conduct ridiculous given the many examples I've seen over the past year nobody follows these rules anyway I've observed observed school committee members expressing concerns in Town Council meetings about the motiv ations and values of their colleagues as well as labeling some new committee members as Rogue and working against the best interests of Charo while pleading to open the Charo act additionally there have been instances of biased letters of support for contentious law cases while serving on the school committee representing the committee as a whole on public radio requesting legal opinions be submitted without obtaining committee vote and publicly endorsing individuals on social media while holding influential positions these are rules these are all rules outlined in
018this code that no one follows anyway these actions do not reflect the harmonious nature espoused by the list of codes in question it does raise the question of who should be responsible for making judgment calls regarding these matters when it appears that these codes will only be applied to some not others stop it we all cherish the rights granted to us by the First Amendment we've been through this exercise before I would like to remind you of the statements made by Keith Hoffman from the Attorney General's office and chief Johnson the chief of Richmond police during an anti-racism task force meeting on April 7th 2021 where this very topic was discussed public versus private electronic communication some of you were in attendance and may remember remember that Keith emphasized online content may make us uncomfortable
019Chief Johnson highlighted the distinction between public employees posting on public social media platforms and privately posting online have we learned anything from that discussion I can tell you what I learned that I have a right to discuss topics posted in public by public employees and still reserve the the right to privacy I did not make public statements as my colleagues did I made private statements those statements are protected the rules do not apply leveling accusations against someone for making you feel exposed and uncomfortable raises important questions but as Chief Johnson outlined these conversations are private and protected by the First Amendment please let us have this conversation but do so with understanding and a commitment to upholding the principles of free speech and respectful dialogue and clerk could you please include a copy of the
020statement in the public meeting minutes I'll give you a copy after thank you if you'd like to all just go around we can do that or is there someone who would like to go next is there a preference uh so if people have comments yeah so why don't we start with Donna and go the table if you want sure you could just make sure to use your microphone please excuse me microphone yeah I just pull it closer okay I um I would just like to say that this is pretty clearcut to me I did not hear anything of Pie's statements that um would make me change my mind that she voted she uh violated our code of conduct without question because as Andrew stated she criticized an employee publicly paully you said we all do
021that I do not I do not and I don't think I ever have criticized an employee of this school district publicly and I and I hope to never in the future so this is a violation of number 16 in the code of conduct without any hesitation I believe it's very clearcut and deserves cens U to be censored and also it does not promote harmonious working relationships it actually does the opposite it creates adversa and it it creates anger and distrust and everything else to our faculty to our staff members I think it's critical that you that what you did and what you said reflects poorly on our school district and I'm ashamed of it I'm ashamed of it and yes I will vote to censor censor you paully I I agree you have you have
022the right for free spee you ran for public office got elected to the public office you stood in front of a clerk and you raised your hand and you swore to the Constitution United States um you now are one of 12 you're just not somebody sitting out in the crowd you're one of 12 you reflect on all of us the entire School District you reflect on it and and personally I think you chose a wrong tactic here you were wrong I don't want to get into I've read the text many times whole highly agree with everything Andrew said and even more um so I'm V to C all right I need some background because I don't know the context all I know is what this typed ver version or is that was presented by VIN
023I don't know if this was a social media post if it was a screenshot I mean this is to me is a typed up version and I'm sure that Vin's not friends with Paia on her Facebook page if that's where this came from so I would assume it came from a third party so as we all have learned how important words in language are so I am not sure if I'm willing to accept this version of what is being presented without the actual whether it be photograph or something in the context with which it was done as being presented as the evidence and I vote uh against censuring po Larry I got to say we have the right to speak on mind and social media here tonight all right under God Constitution um I'm I'm
024not going to vote Yes to do this is just the dog imponent show it make angel feel brave and strong and did something tonight yeah let's not disparage other members uh Karen under the school committee's rules of conduct if there was an actual concern about this teacher's performance and our character that should have been brought to the superintendent and the chair's attention instead a post was made on Facebook the post was not only anti-semitic but went further to make her sound like a Hamas sympathizer and continued on to label her as a communist this post was not kind helpful inspiring truthful or necessary we are bound by the code basic management principles and ethical standards for school committee members these principles and ethics tell us to quote avoid criticizing employees publicly and strive to promote
025harmonious working relations with all School staff that are based on mutual respect fairness and openness close quote we as school committee members are here to support our students our schools and our community this post did neither did none of these things but what we do here today will support our students our faculty and our community because we will show them that social media posts have consequences that we stand up to hatred and divisiveness and that we support our staff I'm sure I'll be labeled a communist but just because I think differently does not make me a communist it makes me an American and an active member of this community I'm sure we pointed out that I am biased because I am a teacher we all have biases and when we recognize our own biases we
026become better leaders and community members we teach our children and our students to stand up to hatred and that is what I'm doing that is why I'm voting to censure Miss Hopkins put an end to to divisiveness and to hatred um I am not g to judge anybody's motivations Andrew um I'm not going to cast any as verions on your motivations um and the same for py you there are many people that evidently evidently see her post as being hateful um I don't I do see it as a political statement however I was to be perfectly Frank shocked to think that that was taken as support for Hamas or anything that is anti-jewish that literally shocks me when I first read it I recognized it for what I believe it is without having spoken to
027poly about it on the face of it um especially knowing the character of the Facebook page itself it was more talking about how you know they say sometimes tough cases that have like strange bed fellows a lot of times um you can have a law a lawsuit and then you end up having um people that are on the same side of a lawsuit but they're coming from different different viewpoints that you'd never expect they'd be together with it I think that was the point that she was making um and and I think that when Vin got up and spoke and he said he was disgusted that he had to say those words out loud I thought to myself what is he talking about so I Googled snort because I'm like snot's not like word I
028would choose and I Googled it and according to the dictionary snort is an idiom that's used to suddenly Express strong feelings of anger or disapproval and I think the disapproval that that ply was expressing was more towards um the anti-racism task force and that is nothing that's new to this community that has been concern about that in different viewpoints on both sides of that issue I do not look at this as being hateful towards the teacher I really think it was a political discussion if I thought it was hateful um towards any person then I would agree with the censure and again I do not cast any asir on your motives for this Andrew but I do not support the censure because I do not believe that it was meant to be an attack on
029a teacher I absolutely believe it was not an attack on um the Jewish people I love the Jewish people and I have very close friends that are Jewish and um and as a matter of fact my husband um brought forth an initiative supporting the Jewish people so that's where we stand on that if I thought that was anti-semitic then I would have um caused to think more towards the censure but for the reasons that I stated um I'm not for the censure thank you Jessica um so my thoughts on this are that it's not about how that post makes me feel I wasn't the target um this teacher is not the first and only Target that has been identified in a post um by Miss Hopkins but like I said it's not about how I
030feel it's about how it made her feel and it made her feel targeted enough to go to someone to the union president and say I want action he came to us to look for Action um we govern ourselves in that manner we can um we're the ones that can write a centure or centure a member and I think it's our task to do so I would vote Yes thank you chair I guess I'm just sitting here I'm going last here and I guess some of the comments of my fellow I just can't believe that you read this post and didn't think that this was a negative nasty not even worth the paper it's written on kind of comment that needed to be made I don't I don't understand that you cannot read this and not
031know that it's hateful in me and not and meant it meant to I don't know what it meant to I don't even know what ply you were me what what was the purpose of this and I don't know if you want to answer that because you never explained yourself in your comments and you never even I guess you don't you're not sorry that you posted it because you it doesn't seem like you have an apology there either um I would vote to censor um poly only because I think that this it was a very negative post that didn't help and it didn't uh create any kind of um positive supportive um collaborative all those words that we want to use um with our with our community with our our teachers with our staff our family
032and and our children so I I definitely have to vote to censor poly do you want do you want me to answer those questions chair um why don't we hear from yeah let's hear from everybody then the the community then you'll have another opportunity to respond sure I have a a comment and then we'll go chair one more I I just want to point out to that yes pully had the right to say what she said we all have a right to say what we say I mean I guess that's the freedom of speech but that doesn't mean there's not consequences for kind of your what you say you have to understand that there there's there could be repercussions or Consequences on what you say yeah you can say what you want to say but
033there's there could also be repercussions so thank you can I give my comment yeah then we're going to go to the public and then you'll have another shot at the Apple let me just can I can you just fold thank you I've been the chair of the chairo school committee for a little over a year and in that time I've been asked informally by students taxpayers and other school committee members to admonish for other members of this committee for what others have seen as poor Behavior such as t-shirts that alienate students calling out parents by name on social media and even simply interrupting other members my response has always been the same it's not appropriate for me as chair to chastise another school committee member for poor Behavior I've always maintained that the public certainly
034has the right to call it behavior that they deem inappropriate the Facebook post in question though Rises far beyond a handmade t-shirt simple interruption or even challenging parents on social media a vote of public censure does not violate anyone's First Amendment rights the action does not limit Miss what Miss Hopkins can say it does not limit her participation as a school committee member at this meeting or any future meetings in fact this meeting is an exercise and Free Speech as it allows members of the school committee and the public an opportunity to comment on the post and decide if formal censure is the appropriate response Americans have freedom of speech not freedom from consequence a vote of public censure is an opportunity for members of the school committee to make it clear that there is
035a line where Decent Behavior should be held attacking a teacher based on her religion crosses that line to my knowledge the chairo school committee has never held a vote of censure many people feel as though a public censure of a school Committee Member does nothing more than give said member attention and a larger platform and I largely agree I don't think that a vote to centure miss Hopkins is going to change her behavior her heart or her mind member Hopkins has had ample opportunity to clarify her post to apologize or to otherwise explain her actions and it seems she stands behind what she said in her November 7th Facebook post at best the post is juvenile it is akin to a lunch table bully who makes fun of someone only when surrounded by a handpicked
036group of friends at best posting to seemingly castigate a Jewish teacher one month after the slaughter of Israelis at the hand of Hamas is in poor taste and poor judgment social media which is very easy to share with people outside of an attendance audience rarely brings out the best in any of us at best the post clearly violates numbers 16 and 17 of our basic code of management principles and ethical standards for school committee members in an egregious way at worst the post seems to accuse a Jewish chero teacher of supporting a terrorist organization that is responsible for the murder of hund of hundreds of Jewish people at worst the post could be seen as defamation at worst a post made on sep November 7th one month to the day of the attack of Israel
037by Hamas that has led to thousands of casualties singling out a Jewish teacher to seemingly poke fun at how she may feel about the murder of Jewish citizens could be seen as an example of anti-Semitism and it is appalling regardless of the intent the post was a flagrant violation of our basic code of management principles and ethical standards and it does absolutely nothing to make chero better it doesn't help taxpayers and does not make our schools better for our students I'm going to open up to the public I'm going to ask that you come to the podium and you state your name and the town of your residence for us please make sure to use the microphone so we can all hear you and if you could please keep your comments to two to three
038minutes I would appreciate it so if you'd like to come up actually do have me thank you Joe for doing that just yeah so people can see it first Mrs Hopkins oh wait a minute if you could state your name for us my name is Sandra La I live in pet Connecticut and I work here as an English teacher first Mrs Hopkins calls me by name and claims I should be checked on for what for my role as vice president of the nonpartisan Southeastern Connecticut League of Women Voters should I be checked on for my past participation in Cho's now unfortunately dormant antiracism task force a school Related Group that supported all students in our school schools especially minority students so they could feel safer and their voices could be heard Mrs Hopkins refers to
039my outside of school activities as an actor playing the notorious role of golden Mayer why the Sinister connotation golden Mayer was a famous Jewish leader and role model who believed in Jewish values such as tuno fix this broken World mend it by doing good do what your conscience tells you is just and fair then the does the most harm it conflates my support for social justice causes with my supposed support for Hamas a terrorist organization that calls for the slaughter of Jews and the destruction of Israel that is a false and slanderous statement it impunes my identity as a Jew affects my standing in the community my credibility as a teacher and therefore my ability to do my job effectively that inflammatory remark could endanger my life to allow an attack like the one Mrs
040Hopkins aimed at me to go unanswered without consequence is to encourage and condone such conduct her behavior is unacceptable for anyone let alone someone entrusted with leadership and for setting policy to educate young minds perhaps Mrs Hopkins should be compelled to retract her statements and to apologize not just to me but to members of this community particularly Jewish members I've heard that some Jews were afraid to put their manora in their window last hanuk perhaps the committee should take action to require Mrs Hopkins to attend cultural racial and ethnic sensitivity training at her own expense and report back what she learns at a future meeting in my very first year of teaching at Cho I was privileged to have in my English 12 honors class the granddaughter of Judith Sternberg Newman the Holocaust Survivor and
041author of A Memoir about her survival Mrs Newman and her husband survived aitz came to Richmond Rhode Island and started a farm a poultry business Newman's eggs Mrs Newman educated generations of Cho students about her experiences during the Holocaust a painful retelling each time she spoke Mr Newman was a member of the Richmond school committee and helped build the Richmond Elementary School Edition members of the school committee I urge you to think of the newans when you cast your vote tonight it's an honor to have met and work with so many wonderful members of The Cho community over my 21 years working here students parents my gifted colleagues superintendent bicard and all school committee members I value your time and efforts on behalf of jaro you determined this matter to be of such serious far
042ranging consequence that you called this special public open meeting and I appreciate you voting your conscience thank you hello everyone excuse me just one moment Sandy asked me to prepare some words tonight and I'm super happy to do it for her can you hear me okay y could you say your name yep get into it thank you hello my name is Jola Fountain um I've been a teacher at the high school for 16 years and I'm also a parent and a taxpayer in hopkington there are three points I would like to briefly address in regards to my friend and colleague Sandy La first Sandy is the daughter of a World War II veteran she has been a starch supporter of both me and my family through my husband's 22 years of military service and I
043am saddened and ashamed that a member of a military family has been treated so poorly by anyone in the chero Regional School District military service and the dedication of families impacted by those who serve is something that Sandy and I have bonded over and cherish and if anyone knows anything about military families is that we look after our own and we stand up up for each other second as both a teacher and parent in this District I find Miss Hopkins words unsettling at best and at worst dangerous My Utmost concern along with those of my colleagues is always the safety and well-being of my students and in turn my own children potentially inciting any type of violence whether it's unintended or not is reckless these are words that do not make me feel sick as
044a parent or as a teacher in my classroom myself and my husband and many many of the hardworking taxpaying members of hopkington who work extremely hard for our paychecks and there are so many elderly on fixed incomes none of us want to pay a single bit of that money to go to lawyer LA or any increased school budget for retainer fees for lawyers because you miss Hopkins need to defend yourself or the district needs to defend itself against Lial and defamation potential cases I thank the school committee for its time Christen Chambers from Richmond it's appalling that chero school Committee Member paully Hawkins in violation of the committee's code of ethical standards would publicly attack teacher Sandra Lao over statement she made on social media with which Hopkins disagreed Mrs Hopkins own snide comments on
045social media also dered Mrs LA because quote she leapt on to the anti-racist bandwagon and whole bodily supported the anti-racist task force at Jero end quote personally I think if you are a member of Cho school committee and have not left the anti-racist bandwagon yourself you probably don't belong on the committee my daughter graduated from Cho high school 20 years ago in her senior year she had the good for to have Mrs L for English which was her first year teaching in Jero I don't recall the names of any of her High School teachers but except for Mrs LA because I clearly recall my daughter coming home excited about having Mrs LA and how much she enjoyed the class readings discussions and activities throughout that year two years ago when we saw that Mrs La
046would be performing at westerly's Granite theater in a play she had written herself called Mrs Campbell Mr Shaw we made sure to attend and we're delighted certain that since that first year teaching in Cho Mrs La has touched the hearts and minds of hundreds of other students through her creative and thoughtful teaching and she will be the teacher that they recall with gratitude 20 years later and Beyond my name is Ruth Morgan and I'm a resident hpon and I know neither the teacher involved nor the school Committee Member involved I would like to say though that I'm a little embarassed to stand here and have to to know that the the School Committee Member represents citizens public it's very it's very painful to me um on a little different note I I looked up the
047mission of the chero district and it ends with uh pair students for lifelong learning and productive global citizenship this is this is frightening that a member of the school committee would write something that's so opposite what the school's mission is and um I I find it heartbreaking I find it embarrassing there's no role for Byer of comments like that um in within the school the words I I I didn't read the whole post I'm not sure what it is but there were I picked up the same thing p my ear I thought well what's what's wrong with fold of my ear and comrades I looked up comrades I presumed she was going for the Communist definition most of the dictionaries I looked at meant that it was friend so I'm glad to have friends I
048think that's a great thing and think about the word camarad what does the word camaraderie mean I just think this is a distortion of how we should live where our values should be and I also feel that it's not a First Amendment issue she came on the school committee she agreed to certain rules and she's broken you have a responsibility it's to to me it's a it's a nopr thank you for your time hello um Steve moff I'm a member of the hopkington Town Council um I just want to make a few comments first off I believe it is essential to maintain a respectful and inclusive environment that Fosters growth and supports all individuals unfortunately Miss Hopkins actions have demonstrated a violation of these principles impacting both students staff members and members of our community
049it is crucial to create an environment that promotes tolerance equality and respect for all regardless of their religious or ethnic background as a school Committee Member it is essential to prioritize the needs and interests of the students teachers and the entire School community over personal agendas Miss Hopkins it is imperative that you recognize the harm caused by bullying and anti-Semitism and take immediate steps to rectify the situation it is not only your duty as a school Committee Member but is also as a responsible adult to set a positive example for the students that you serve remember the role of school Committee Member is to advocate for the best interest in wellbeing well-being of our students and Educators it is only through cooperation compassion and respect that we can create an environment conducive to learning and
050personal growth hello my name is Megan coder I represent District 39 at the state house which is exitor Richmond in hopkington I'm an exitor resident normally I wouldn't come out to something like this it's not usually where you would find me um as an elected official I hold myself to a higher standard of conduct I am committed to serving with integrity and transparency and I have often said if you have concerns about my actions or policies I welcome constructive feedback I strive for a respectful discourse that Fosters understanding understanding and collaboration for the betterment of our community I hope the same would hold true for the Cho school committee remember in question using social media to Target Cho teachers and spread suspicion and lies some comments are hidden in private Facebook groups while other comments
051are open for all it is clear that the statement about Miss lob was carefully crafted and she stands by what she says Miss lob was concerned enough to contact her union representative who is now looking to this committee to take action it's commendable to some extent I can understand the discomfort she has felt obviously not to the same extent but I too have been labeled a communist in fact anybody who supports me was also labeled a communist I am a proud American I believe in democracy with a small D and labeling someone a a communist is divisive and extreme characterization labeling and dehumanizing our neighbors is an act of polarization that achieves nothing but Division and hatred we should be focusing on specific policies and actions that truly need our attention that is our job
052as Representatives that is what we were elected to do I appreciate the opportunity to have this discussion today and I truly commend Miss lob's courage to come forward and to really raise concerns here that is what brought me out tonight I've taught my children to treat people the way you want to be treated and to ignore bullies which is what I've always done I've seen the social media comments from certain people and I ignore them because it's not really worth my time but to see someone so impacted by comments inspires me to come out and and to be here in support of that so I hope that you also make that decision thank you any other comments from the public may have your name sir Shelby I um looking around I realized I'm one of
053the older people in the room one of the things be an old teachers you is not to try and judge some people people's heart so I can't say what's in Miss Hopkins heart I'm sure on a lot of issues she and I would agree about things um all I can think of is that it's all the issues that were discussed most important one my thoughts is what your own statements say what your own policy position is policy statements clear we talk about how you should avoid criticizing that your ethical guidelines your management statement of your operating principles that you'll avoid criticizing employees publicly will promote har those last two sentences avoid criticism public criticism promote Harmony so all these other issues B CRT or the other things that been raised are valid to the people
054who raised them to me the most Val issue is the committee is going to uphold its policies thank you good evening everyone Mike colanti Richmond I wasn't sure if I was going to get up and say anything but being kind of like right in the thick of this people have asked me what's the difference in the 32-year Gap from sitting on the council the first time to sitting 32 years later the second time what I have to say is that there's very little civility there's little decorum and there's very little class today we all have differen of opinions most of the folks that got up here could probably my fair estimation tend to be a little bit more on the liberal side my tends to be a little more on the conservative side but I
055will listen to you and I will be civil I was sitting in my chair and there's discussion going on behind me that wasn't very civil so again I don't know what Paulie's intention was what the initial public comment was in so social media that's why I don't do social media it really I mean causes people to make comments sometimes that they normally wouldn't make to a person face to face that's the way we used to do it 32 years ago we would talk to each other face to face we had differences of opinion sometimes we walked away in somewhat in agreement and sometimes we would walk away still not meeting of the minds but still we were respectful to one another today it is totally out of control that is the biggest difference that I
056see with people today is the minute that somebody opens their mouth and they have a difference of opinion that person is hated you talk about hate you talk about divisiveness and whatnot I get it all the time I'm a grandfather of three beautiful granddaughters I was called a misogynist two weeks after I was elected two weeks and I didn't know this person from a hole in the wall now you talk about the divisiveness you talk about hatred I didn't even know what a misogynist was I had to ask one of my six children what a misogynist was it was my middle daughter she says Dad it's somebody who hates a guy who hates women and I said really Monique do have you realized for 28 years that I've hated you and I've got eight beautiful
057granddaughters so you talk about divisiveness you talk about liberal compared to conservative and there's the fight all right that ensues when somebody finds out that somebody tends to be a little bit more conservative or liberal I'm tired of it I really am I just want everybody to get back down to Civility and I'll be the first one to say I'll be the first one out of the gate I don't do social media I don't write letters to the edit this disparaging people I will defend myself when I have to other people have a right to defend themselves everybody does it's free speech and when somebody's going after you and they really don't understand the true intent of your heart damn you everybody whether you be conservative or liberal I'm tired of it I don't care
058who it is the the the bot the bottom line is all right we have to get back down to civility that that includes everybody it includes myself it includes my wife it includes you it includes everybody sitting around this table let's make a pack if somebody disagrees with somebody because they tend to be a little bit more conservative or a little bit more liberal let's be all right uh conscious that we going to be civil with one another and be respectful that's all that's all that's all I am asking for hello everyone my name is Kate Jem I am a Richmond resident and a proud teacher in the district and I wasn't planning on speaking tonight but I just had to get up and bring it back to what we were here for which is
059the possible censure of Miss Hopkins and the fact that a lot of people made it very clear that she broke the rules of conduct for the school committee and that is what we are here to look at did she break the rules of conduct for the school committee and I hope everyone will keep that point in mind only when they vote tonight thank you anyone else from the public would like to speak looks like we've got two so age before Beauty my name is Katherine Gibson and I live in charl toown one of the things that struck me about this meeting tonight I was a few minutes late but was the civility with which everyone spoke when they spoke and I know there are a lot of feelings that underpin that but I thought this
060is an example of what I want to see in public education for my children grandchildren maybe someday great-grandchildren um I think that um keeping that sense of a of Civility doesn't mean that we don't look for accountability and I think this the question here has to do with accountability and what are the measures of um examples that we as public servants I'm no longer one but I was and I think there is a certain standard that we we need to keep in mind um when you are in that position of Public Service um I just want to thank you all for the tone um I have a little concern about the Damu part but aside from that I think people have been pretty focused on this particular issue ditto no I'm kidding my name is
061debie melli I live in Richmond I was a school teacher here for many years as well and I just am thinking about the fact that now this is going to be out there and I'm thinking about students of Sandra and how much they love her and I'm I should I just am so moved by her and that I'm thinking they're going to be asking what's going on and I'm hoping that this school committee will show that it was not acceptable for all of those students who are wondering what's going on for all those students that we say social media is not a place for Bully we should be saying that that's coming from the lowest grades to the highest position which is what you hold you hold the highest position and I'd like you to
062be models for that and by showing the district and the children and the rest of the state that that was not acceptable that you you broke she broke her own policies I think that we need to do that just even so children will understand this because it is going to go that far they are going to be looking at this just like we are and wondering what's going on on we say it's not acceptable they she broke those standards I think that gives them the idea that it's just not right it's not right to be able to do that it's not right to bully people especially when it's it's part of the [Music] policy anyone else from the community certain sure I just want to comment I hope we can come back in the future
063and celebrate Sandy L's career here because she is a fantastic teacher she was actually my professor at URI for acting back in the day um when I was a student I had her class the morning of 9911 in the way she handled that class um being unaware of what happened and walking into class and handled it with um such tenderness and as I'm even sitting here listening to everyone defense and we should be celebrating her I've worked with her for 20 years we co-directed drama here together she's brought kids to state championships for Shakespeare uh a recitation contest and to me it is just so bizarre that we're even here for this Comet and not to celebrate what an amazing teaching artists we have at our school and and sometimes you know it's a good
064moment for us to all think about that and in any maybe in another place in another time um we can come back and actually celebrate the work of Sandy L because she's done some pretty amazing things um while she's been a teacher here so thank you final comments you sure okay I'm GNA okay this why I double check Lise Densmore from Richmond good evening happy New Year healthy New Year to everyone in the room um I just want to say that personally um I consider all of you as public servants you take a lot of time out of your lives from your families um from your friends um in public service to the community um Polly is someone who is a public servant um I do consider her a friend and she gives um a
065lot of time energy and effort uh and takes time away from her children to serve here um I also will say that um the right to free speech is the right to free speech anyone sitting here has the right to their opinion they have the right to post what they want to post and I'm sorry if you know when public posts are made it might be uh hurting someone's feeling feelings but the bottom line is is um we have to find a way to move forward from this I'm not sure how you all are going to come together and Foster a culture of cooperation when you're censoring one of your own so I think that um that's something to um really consider how you're going to move forward as a body um towards the mission
066of the Charo District so thank you for serving service is not easy and I appreciate your time tonight thank you happy New Year comments I'm going to return to the committee um hlly would you like to go first or would you like to well what were the questions you had Linda Oh me yeah you had a couple of questions well I think it's beneficial if I ask them nobody has well I guess I guess I just don't understand why you felt the need to have to post something like that I've been first of all and let me say these things it's a private group it's not public everybody keeps saying public believe that that it's public anything you post is is open to public I mean I can't believe that you don't believe that so
067it's a private group and like I said Keith Hoffman from the Attorney General's office came down few years ago defined the scope of this Gina was there Donna was there you're not answering my question PA and they they my question why would you post something like this well that's another question so col what I'm going to do is I'm just going to give you an opportunity I think you heard the questions that we have so why don't you take your WR a couple down go ahead and speak and then we'll move on to other committee members okay thanks I was just trying to understand thank you it was a what I posted um I have been running this Facebook group I think for four years now um there were a lot of concerns that we
068saw in the community and I was urged by somebody to kind of set up a place where we could talk about some of these things because we weren't allowed to talk about them in any other community groups so we cre created one Facebook group that everybody could discuss this stuff without being kicked out comments deleted you know it's a great group of people I haven't had to delete any comments remove any posts very under the under the waves kind of people so it's a private group we've been talking about the same situations and it's devoted to critical race Theory as a beginning and mostly what's going on and trying to Define that and understand it and if at times we see things that are you know are we don't agree with we'll talk about them
069and people have brought to me stories of things that have happened in the school I've had Parents contact me I've had a lot of information that has been put on social media that other people have shown me and said hey we got all this stuff on social media what are we going to do with it we have teachers saying this we have anyway I'm getting carried away and blabbering about that it's a private group it's not public and when when I listen to Keith Hoffman and chief Johnson Define the differences between public public people making public posts gave the warning a few years ago hey if you work for the public you can if you post something other people might see it they might comment on it they might disagree so I kept my group
070private because it enables us a certain freedom to speak about things without judgment all of you can attest that none of us are on the community group because they refuse to talk about any of the topics and we do talk about people we've talked about the same teachers for four years so it's not as though I created something out of nowhere we've talked and it's only based on things that people themselves have said in public given that everybody seems to think there's some kind of this is a political commentary on the the current events it has nothing to do with religious I'm Sorry Miss Miss lob I didn't know you were Jewish I don't look at people that way I really do not um I have much respect and like I've said I've been working
071with Rhode Island pro Israel from the very beginning who was against critical race Theory the anti-racism task force is popping up all over the State we've been and that is probably if you want me to explain it the Trux of why I could not understand what was happening have so much Social Justice and then there's an inflection point that horribly happened on October 7th which changed a lot of things did it not it changed a lot of views and it moved a lot of people and the social commentary is how do you go from this social justice and following these principles and the mandates set up by some of these social justice movements to that divide that happened I don't know if you all understand it's hard to verbalize um I have a lot of
072respect I'd love to tell you a story about my visit to daau sometime it was heartbreaking I've I spent the whole day there there were some really eye openening things but what happened two months later was even more astounding my husband at the time's grandfather was in the first wave of army that liberated daau he was also the photographer assigned to take pictures that day and when I had gone to dacow I had asked the Dawson in the in the kitchen area if these ovens were ever used to exterminate people I was young at the time I you know and they said no he said no the dosson said no my husband's grandfather had a picture of that very same oven Where I Stood with a leg hanging out of it the world is a
073crazy place you would think the Dawson at this Museum would be truthful but he's not so just I know I'm rambling but I wanted to the agend app I wanted to I absolutely reject any anti-semite semitism comments this is not what this comment was about secondly anybody could have reached out to me and asked asked me Katherine called me she asked me what's this about I received no emails no queries no are you crazy girlfriends none of that I just posted it and only a few people saw it I didn't really care because it's on a private group who made it public who took a screenshot from my private group and brought it into the public if you didn't like it then say hey Polly I heard about this what's going on here you should
074probably rethink that if if I don't agree with it and have a conversation but we're not having these conversations for four years I have been denied these conversations it's divided our community you know we're supposed to accept all all of these changes that have happened and we can't talk about them so I'm thankful we're here to talk about something we can move this ball forward I don't care if I have to sacrifice a little skin for it but we need to have these conversations we need to have good and an expansive thought about what's good for all the kids in this community not just ones that think one way we have a lot of kids that think on the other side and a lot of kids in between so I mean there's any questions I'm
075willing to discuss them answer them ask nobody's asked John I'm going to allow you to ask the question because it's difficult to ask ask a question about an agenda item when it's not in a public forum because then we run the risk of violating the open meetings act which is probably why I will speak for myself I didn't reach out to you because I'm not going to violate the OM so if we can be respectful in our questions and answers I'm happy to to have a little bit of that that back and forth I I don't know if this is so much a question Polly as a comment that I am absolutely appalled that you are now admitting to have having a private Social Media Group where you hear where you're open up excuse me
076just a minute I'm listening okay I first of all I have no clue what you're referring to when you talk about this side and that side and all the things that could here I don't know uh what you're referring to but I am appalled that you're admitting that you have a private group on social media where parents and students and everybody else can come and you're acting as this the the school Committee Member listening to all of these problems that they have or their comments are you taking these to the administration do you suggest that a parent who has a problem that's being discussed on your private social media page discuss it with the administration you're not the only person you're not the social you're not the school committee you're not representing the school committee
077you are actually just a minute I'm not done you're actually acting as a oneman social Media Group that's going to solve all the problems of anybody that's coming forward parents students everything and I've heard this from you before and I'm very surprised that you're admitting it but are you suggesting that these people take these issues to the administration so that they could be handled properly in the proper con with the proper Avenue of concern you don't just take it upon yourself to be the one man school committee that's going to solve all the problems of this of this school district and yes you did break these rules by and you're breaking the rules also by having a private social media if you're criticizing teachers you I heard you say that people are coming with concerns
078against teachers against other students and all of the the comments that you just made they're coming to you to solve those problems and that is against our rules of conduct you are absolutely beyond a shadow of a doubt in my mind breaking our rules of conduct by doing what you're doing on social media you have the right to say it but you don't have the right to be a Onan School commit person that's going to be the conduit where everyone comes and brings their criticism and concerns to you paully Hopkins so I'm I should answer if you'd like to you don't have to answer because I've already had so no that's not what I said this Facebook group has been around for four years we I'm not the only one who admins the page I
079post some stuff randomly but it's mostly news from around the country it's different situations different news articles different things that parents are involved in yes parents have reached out to me grandparents even and had issues with something they have seen at school or heard at school and and ran it through me and of course i' I've always told them take it to the school there's nothing nothing I can do because I'm on a face it's a Facebook group literally but it doesn't stop people from having discussions about things I don't facilitate that it's a Facebook group I don't force people to go there post stuff make comments none of that stuff so what is really your question so I want we're not I don't really want to get into a back no let's move forward
080because this is regardless of whether or not this Facebook group is public or private Facebook is public and clearly things are disseminated that right there and then you identified a teacher by name tagged in a post that is number 16 you wrote the teachers name okay so they weren't tagged on Facebook but you ident identified a specific teacher that's public criticism the same teachers that were in the anti-racism task force that are members we've been talking about these issues were talking about somebody who's not in the group not in your Facebook group I don't know that to be honest apparently there's a lot of people in there that but apparently you also KCK people out of this group so it's not a public open discussion it's a very private well it's not very private but
081it's a controlled group it's a safe space it at this point yeah Craig well evidently it's not that safe if some of your friends are sharing your information with the rest of us so therefore it's a public site so with that being said you know I don't I don't hold the same speaking skills Andre I'm never going to have the ability to talk such as those guys but I will I do have one question to ask we all at the beginning of this meeting we stood up we swore an oath to that flag that oath is for all of us you're not living up to it I would beg to differ on that you don't have to rebut everything everybody said so this so take a breath here because it's going to devolve into something
082it doesn't need to be so I'm going to go back to the rules that I had lined out at the beginning or outlined at the beginning every one of us will have one more opportunity one more opportunity to share your thoughts before we move the vote so Pat do you have something else to share I I I just I put this is the way I look at it whether right or wrong I put feelings aside I just look at what was provided to us in the packet and and it is a transcript of of of something that was I assuming posted on Paulie's page I don't know the before I don't know the after I don't know other people's comments that were made so I don't find that just this transcript of what V wrote
083in this packet which is the only evidence that we have is strong enough to determine and and I I respect your point of view we do have a copy of it that is laminated with that I mean I don't know if that would be helpful or there's no there's no before no after no context no additional comments that want a picture understood thank you Larry D any other comments no comment okay it's clear to me that number 16 and 17 our that okay um could I please just read two paragraphs which I believe in an editorial written by Bob Woodson who is a black community activist who's dedicated his whole life to help in low income people I believe that he will show why someone with concerns about critical race Theory would post what they
084did no I think it shows the intent Okay Okay the reason all right the reason why I wanted to read it is because I want it to be abundantly clear that I am not in support of using the first amendment is a cover for hate speech at all but I do believe that if I read two paragraphs from an editorial that this man clearly shows the relationship between um black lives matter which has been supported by the arttf okay this clear um association between the anti-racism task force black Liv matter point of order okay well um maybe I'll write a letter to the Ed because I do not want Sandra or anyone else to misconstrue my vote is condoning any sort of hate speech so since I can't indulge further please just trust that I'm
085being honest with that Linda oh thanks chair I wanted Louise to stay because um she made a point this is like this is I'm really sad this is this this moment in time that we have to be at this moment in time and centure one of our own is making me um very sad and I do hope that maybe Miss Hopkins poly would maybe take a side step and actually maybe be a little bit reflective and think about because we have to and I think Miss Densmore made a point that we have to continue to work together as a school committee and we have to be able to um trust each other and be and try to be collaborative for the sake of our kids and our parents um I just number one pully you
086never really answered my question you talked in circles and I still don't understand why you I wish I could have some reason why you thought you had to post that but I don't and I still feel very strongly that you need to be censured because you did violate at least those two 16 and 17 of our code of conduct thank you Jessica um so I I also agree 16 and 17 were violated but I also want to highlight number five accept and encourage a variety of opinions from and communication with all parts part of the community I think we've done that very well tonight I think as long as I followed the school committee which is around the same time that ply became active we've done that so when Dave stall was on the school
087committee he had some unpopular agenda items they were discussed openly um paully Hopkins got up to that Podium she made suggestions they were discussed open not really discussed public forum is different you can't have a discussion so I think I would also say to pully if you want to have discussions put them on as an agenda item and let's discuss it if you want to talk about the goals of the anti-racism task force that never moved forward and it's now a defunct task force let's do that put it on the agenda and we'll have a discussion about it because I agree that there are a lot of discussions that have not happened um so I think right now and I appreciate I would appreciate to have deeper nuanced conversations there's no um splitting in two
088there's many different directions but I think that right now what we're being asked to do is draw a line in the sand it's a symbolic line but we're the only ones that can do it the teachers can't do it the union can't do it the superintendent can't do it we're the only ones that can do it um I'm ready to vote Yes for Cent and OE do you have a final comment no but please come to me with questions at if there's something that alarms you that you think I said or appears that I said please em email me please ask me I think um any of my friends who I've I've talked to have realized I'm kind of a middleof the road person so I mean sure I'll get some snorts and eye rolls
089at that but really pretty reasonable I have three kids who have worn me down to a n so final comment I just think you that you have to afford other people that same Grace you're going to say see me don't don't see me as a label you also have to not label other people it and I would just have to answer that as look at the past few years and all the comments we and all the discussions we've tried to have either on social media or other places and were shut down were removed even your friends of Charo group removed comments of a friend of mine who's making very very fair neutral points so there there it keeps dividing people and pushing people away and I just have one area where everybody shares everything and
090it's actually pretty great I don't get any crab apples in there is itct is it a succinct point I hope so I think it is I'd just like um to go back to what happens what are the consequences of sens censuring a member and I would like John's comment on that if we can I I understand that there are no consequences which leads me to believe John that based on Paulie's comments and all that we've heard tonight that this action is going to just keep continuing I I can't speak to the last point I want to remind everybody um what was said earlier and that is the issue before the school committee is a motion to censure a motion to censure is a way for the body to State their disapproval of an act or
091a state that's what this is it's saying I don't approve it's as simple um as that thank you so so my vote my vote if you want to you I have a comment and then we're going to vote okay all right so I think we've learned a few things here tonight I think we've learned that conversations are always better had in in public and face to face I think we've learned that social media is really not anybody's friend I think we've learned that we teach our children you don't spit in kids faces that's not how we behave you don't write things that are unnecessary on social media because it follows you I've taught my three children that and I'll tell you my 20-year-old has better digital literacy than I do uh they know what you
092say has consequences maybe you didn't mean it that way maybe it came out wrong maybe you were trying to be funny maybe you're having a bad day and you just threw something out there there are consequences to it it doesn't just go away and so I hope what we've learned tonight is we do want to move forward as a body and try to work together because nothing gets done if we don't want try to work together maybe we can have deeper convers ations I was a part of Paulie's Facebook group once upon a time and then I was removed because I didn't agree largely with a lot of what was said and that Facebook group but it's hard to have a conversation hard to get different points of view when you're in an echo chamber
093and I think that's kind of what Polly felt prey to here um with the Facebook f post the matter before us tonight is was this violation of our code of conduct egregious enough as John stated that the rest of us feel a need to say that is our Line in the Sand it has been crossed and so that's what we've been challenged to do tonight it's largely symbolic Polly is not going to leave here and not be able to say whatever she'd like to say Polly could be posting on Facebook right now as could the rest of us as has happened at meetings before quite frankly um it doesn't it doesn't gag anybody it doesn't do anything but give the rest of us an opportunity to say it it's a it's gone a little too
094far and so at this point I'm going to move the vote we're GNA have a roll call vote I will start with Donna we'll move around the table Donna okay Donna Chambers votes absolutely that there is a violation of our code of conduct and I vote Yes to cens censure poly Hopkins GRE I vote the affirmative to session have a clear picture of what was said it's not personal it's not about viewings it's just what was provided to us understood Larry I vote Yes Catherine I vote no um but I would publicly denounce any negative characterization of Jewish people or any other people group if I thought that was taking place um I would be voting otherwise thank you Linda vote Yes Jessica yes yes Andrew yes hly um I vote Yes I'd like to
095thank everybody for their participation tonight I think we could have a lot more of this and would help so thank you that concludes our meeting make a motion to a journ second second those in favor that actually that was for ER