This gripping headline was representative of two letters to the editor and an editorial in the Oct. 28 Phoenix. Both the letters and the editorial took the Bristol Warren Regional School Committee and specifically the “gang of five” to task for turning down a consultant’s project-based training teacher training grant. A lead article and a letter to the editor implied that the decision was racist and in one case a writer stated that the decision was “blatantly racist.”

Perhaps we might credit the people who serve the community on the school committee, both the “gang of five” and even the “gang of four” as having motivations to improve learning conditions and academic achievement in the district. The school committee members are not perfect and not free from criticism, but to level the charge of racism against any member mischaracterizes the committee member’s motivations and is a sign that the accusers have no valid arguments to make.

To claim that the voting against the Freedom Dreams consultant was a racist act and detrimental to the future of our students is to ignore the weakness of the consultant’s proposal. I have done a fair amount of consulting and have hired a number of consulting firms. Given the material presented by the consultant, I would not give this proposal a second thought. We wonder why the proposal was even considered by Principal Deb DiBiase and the gang of four, as it is a vague stab-in-the dark effort, loaded with all the right jargon and lacking substance.   

The school committee has the obligation to focus on those things that contribute to academic achievement and to provide career paths for our students. It is hard to see where the Freedom Dreams proposal would help achieve those priority objectives.

Contrary to one of the letters in the Phoenix, the Bristol Warren school district is not doing well academically. There are bright spots and many dedicated teachers, but the RICAS 2020-2021 ELA rankings for Bristol indicate that only 49.4% of our students meet or exceed standards while only 28.7% of our students meet or exceed the math standards. We are not doing well by our students and our community with these scores.

Our marginalized students are the 50% who do not meet English standards and the 70% who do not meet math standards. The SAT scores for 11th-graders at Mt Hope High School are nothing to be proud of either.

Both the “gang of five” and the “gang of four,” as well as the district’s administration, teachers and parents, need to work together to improve academic achievement and enhance career path opportunities, especially for our non-college-bound youth. Contrary to the Phoenix editorial, discord is not a one-way street. It takes at least two sides to create the discord.

All sides need to work together to focus on those programs and activities that make a difference. To blame the school committee simply because they do not vote they way you wanted is to avoid responsibility that should be spread over a wider area.

Michael Byrnes
Bristol