Education

Melrose residents rally for change after alleged racist incidents

Around 100 Melrose and Boston residents attended the rally to stem future racial incidents.

Kerrin Gibbs, right, whose daughter is a Melrose METCO student who has endured racism at school, stands at the rally outside of Melrose City Hall. Jessica Rinaldi / The Boston Globe

By Beth Treffeisen

June 12, 2024

3 minutes to read

In the wake of alleged racial incidents in the Melrose Public Schools, close to 100 people, including Melrose and Boston families and students, attended a rally on Tuesday morning to bring awareness of the bias and bullying in the schools.

“It was a way to show people in the town that may not know these things exist, or who may not support the idea of everyone being treated equally, or may not support the idea of METCO, ‘Hey, your neighbors are here standing with us, and you’re going to have to adjust your behavior and ideology,’” said Demia Wells-Allen, a mother of four who still has two children in the district and who helped organize the rally.

The rally came on the heels of an incident where a fifth grader, a Black METCO student, had braids cut by a classmate and of the filing of a civil rights investigation into the bullying of a Black METCO student.

METCO, or the Metropolitiatian Council for Educational Opportunity, is a state-funded program that has enrolled tens of thousands of Boston students of color in predominantly suburban white school districts. The program aims to create opportunities for students to experience the advantages of learning and working in a racially and ethnically diverse setting.

Friends of Melrose METCO and the Melrose Racial Justice Community Coalition organized the rally.

In an open letter to the Melrose community, the two organizations wanted the Melrose Public Schools administrators, the mayor, the School Committee, city councilors, and Melrose residents to become aware of the weekly occurrences of bias and bullying in the schools.

The organizations are asking for greater accountability and transparency from Melrose schools, robust cultural sensitivity training for faculty and administrators, and more frequent and in-depth conversations with students about school values.

“We have a lot of work to do to prevent future incidents of racism. We’re committed to doing that work within the schools,” said interim Superintendent John Macero, in a statement, who attended the rally in front of Melrose City Hall. “We are also committed to hearing from and listening to all of our stakeholders, especially our students of color and their families in Boston and Melrose, as we review and revise district policies and procedures.”

Macero said that the district needs to work together to articulate expectations through education, restorative practices, and consequences when appropriate.

The district has partnered with the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents to join their organization called IDEAS (Initiatives for Developing Equity and Achievement for Students) to plan the next steps for more robust cultural sensitivity training for staff.

“It is important that we as a district grow in the right direction and become inclusive to all,” Macero said.

Speakers at the event included Mayor Jen Grigoraitis, Melrose City Councilors Maya Jamaledine and Ryan Williams, the fifth-grade student whose braid was cut off by a classmate, and the student’s mother.

“The turnout was amazing from the Melrose community,” said Wells-Allen. “It seemed like everybody was open to what we were asking for.”

Even though people were open to their requests, she said work still needs to be done.

Aiyana Spencer-Lakes, who removed her son from the Melrose METCO program this year, agrees.

She said that many of the staff are tenured and may not be willing to put in the work.

Despite taking her son out, Spencer-Lakes, a former METCO student herself, still has a cousin in the district and numerous friends and family members who were past students.

“Their experiences there were so traumatized that to this day, they can’t speak on it without getting emotional,” said Spencer-Lakes. “That’s why I’m still involved because I do not want to sit by and continue to let our kids be traumatized and be othered.”

At the rally, the two parents were surprised at how many Melrose residents had no idea that these racial incidents were happening. Parents told them they were outraged and asked how they could support them.

“I was happy to see them get up on the microphone and call each other out, like, ‘Look, we got to do better as a community,’” said Spencer-Lakes.

Both Wells-Allen and Spencer-Lakes would like to see the city of Boston and METCO held accountable.

Spencer-Lakes encourages METCO, based in Roxbury, to ask themselves how they have dropped the ball for the Boston students they signed up and sent out of the city.

“These are still our Boston babies,” she said. “The city needs to show them a little bit of love.”