An update for all of you

Good morning,                     

I wanted to provide you with an update following the events of last week and the investigation into the racist, disparaging, and insensitive remarks made at the Girls’ Basketball game on Friday, January 29, 2022.  

Our administrative team interviewed many of the spectators at the game and through our investigation it became clear that a black player on the Wayland basketball team was the target of these taunting remarks.  Please understand, due to issues of student confidentiality,  I cannot expand on the number of students that were disciplined, however, I can confirm that there were consequences and we are now moving towards educating the students and focusing on restorative work and healing.

While some people disagree with the decision to remove spectators from two athletic events, this was not a punishment.  This was an opportunity to pause and reset.  A time for our students to reflect about what the focus should be on, which is the talented and hard working student-athletes and not on the commentary in the stands. All spectators were addressed that evening before the game had begun regarding the MIAA expectations for event behavior by the game announcer.  In addition, our Athletic Director, Mr. Jeff Bunyon, reminded the student spectators to be positive and not to direct any derogatory comments towards players or referees. Cheer for your team! 

As we reflect on this incident, we’re examining different factors that contributed to what happened and how to prevent this from happening again.    As many of you are aware, the gym is quite loud during a game.  While having the WA Pep Band perform and having students cheer creates an atmosphere of excitement and noise, it also creates an environment where it is difficult to hear.  We are looking at ways to reposition the administration and faculty members to better monitor what is being said.  Similarly, we ask the students to consider their role as upstanders, not bystanders.  If students hear taunting remarks, they should report them to an administrator immediately so that we can address the issue in the moment.   

Throughout this process the Westford Academy Administration has been in constant contact with the Wayland High School Administration. We wanted to make sure that the player was okay and to express our deepest apologies. The Westford Academy Administration is committed to working with Wayland High School Administration in order to move towards the restoration of the relationship between our schools and school communities. We understand that this will take some time, and we are prepared to invest in this healing process. 

As we all struggle through the pandemic, our focus has been on connecting with family.  It is about building strong bonds, caring for one another, supporting one another, and keeping each other healthy and safe.  This behavior should permeate into everything we do.   We all want to be loved and feel loved, so choose a random act of kindness, extend your hand to someone you may not have extended it to before. Let’s take care of one another beyond the family unit.  Let’s remind our young adults that their words and actions matter and that they need to think before they express themselves in a way that may hurt a fellow human being.  Let’s demonstrate this behavior for our young people. Otherwise this divisive, hateful behavior will continue and there is no place for it in our society.    Our work is just beginning; we will continue to educate the Westford Academy community so that we can make the world a better place.  

Respectfully, Jim Antonelli