As members of the Saugus School Committee, we are broken-hearted that in 2020, it’s necessary to publicly state that George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and so many others should still be alive.
Every single one of us deserves equal consideration and respect. It’s a sentiment that you hear repeated all the time, but these tragedies keep happening over and over. Of course protests are taking place across the world. Nothing else is working.
We want our student population to know that as fathers and grandfathers, first responders and veterans, it breaks our hearts to see great kids, the players that we’ve coached, be forced to wear, “I am not a threat” t-shirts because they know they may not be safe in this world. None of us on the committee have personally lived with that particular fear, and we will not allow our privilege to silence us in having your backs.
You have done everything asked of you. You’ve embraced each other’s differences, supported each other, educated each other, and you have enough to worry about.
It is our goal as members of the School Committee to continue to encourage and support the many clubs and advocacy groups in our district that embrace diversity, shine lights on inequity and celebrate and support all people regardless of gender identity, creed, or race.
Chairman Thomas Whittredge
Vice Chair Ryan Fisher
John Hatch
Arthur Grabowski
Dennis Gould