Framingham Council Tries To Usurp School Committee Policy Authority

Back on September 2, 2023, I posted an article including progress on the City Council’s draft Welcoming Ordinance, which is designed to provide a clear plan of action to handle new immigrant arrivals. I provided a caution that the ordinance contained a section which usurped the School Committee’s policy authority but was encouraged that the City Solicitor’s advice to the City Council to delete the offending section. However, the City Council ignored the City Solicitor’s advice and retained the offending section.

Here is what played out.

On October 17, 2023, in its regular meeting the City Council broke new ground in its relationship with the School Committee and the school district. For the first time, a city ordinance attempted to usurp School Committee policy authority by writing specific policy for the Framingham Public Schools.

This occurred when the much-delayed Welcoming Ordinance was discussed and approved. The draft Welcoming Ordinance may be seen here:

https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/2220148/FC_draft_Welcoming_ordinance.pdf

The portion in question is Section 9.3.3.

Its contents are also included at the end of this article, so it can be seen quite clearly how specific the instructions are to the school district, including mandating website content standards, special education practices, civics curriculum content, communication standards, professional development and hiring practices. It is very wide-ranging and very detailed.

By state law, the City Council has no policy authority over the school district, so the City Solicitor correctly recommended that the Section 9.3.3 be entirely removed. That ordinance section regarding the schools has no weight, nor any enforceability. It is a meaningless exercise in legislative overreach, promoted to the last by John Stefanini. It is consistent with the King/Cannon/Stefanini push to reorganize the school district administration, covered in a prior article:

https://framinghamobserver.substack.com/p/framingham-city-council-aims-to-reorganize

The remarkable thing is that the City Council insisted on keeping the offending section in the Welcoming Ordinance. Only 2 City Councilors appeared to know the law on these matters. Tracey Bryant and Christine Long should be thanked for trying to block an exercise in futility. The other City Councilors need a lesson in city governance, including the basic facts regarding School Committee policy authority.

It is even more remarkable that the School Committee was quite happy to cede its policy authority in multiple areas to the City Council. It is fortunate that state law intervenes to prevent that. It seems that all of the state-mandated training every School Committee member receives on the scope of authority of the School Committee evaporated in a misguided attempt to seek favor with the City Council.

It is a small mess, but a fixable one.

The Welcoming Ordinance should have Section 9.3.3 removed and the School Committee should refer that content to its Policy Subcommittee to work it into its set of policies.

In that manner the School Committee can intelligently and legally show solidarity with the City Council in making sure that incoming new residents are welcome in the city and the school district. It will also ensure that the City Welcoming Ordinance has no vacuous sections, and that the content of Section 9.3.3, when moved to its rightful place in School Committee policies will be enforceable.

It will also ensure that the City Solicitor's correct advice is finally followed on an important matter of law.

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Welcoming Ordinance, Section 9.3.3 Framingham Public Schools (FPS)

a) No employee of the Framingham Public Schools (FPS) shall require a student, parent, legal guardian or caretaker to provide information regarding their immigration or citizenship status to establish the student’s residency in the district for enrollment purposes. If such information becomes known to an employee of the Framingham Public Schools, such information shall not be kept or distributed and shall have no bearing on the student’s ability to register for school or the school’s treatment of that student. Information collected regarding the place of birth for the purpose of providing students with appropriate services shall be used only by FPS employees for that purpose and not distributed further.

b) The FPS website shall be provided in a digital format that can be translated into the reader’s preferred language.

c) FPS will approach Special Education with an equity lens and understanding of the complexities of neurodivergence in emerging bilingual students.

d) FPS will incorporate an introduction to civic participation as an immigrant to its civics curricula across the grade levels.

e) FPS will utilize culturally appropriate means of communication to engage immigrant communities including non-English radio stations, immigrant-published newspapers, and social media platforms. FPS will collaborate with community leaders in immigrant communities including religious leaders. FPS will maintain and seek to establish partnerships with immigrant-serving organizations including the Brazilian-American Center (BRACE), SuperParents online support group, Pelham Lifelong Learning Center, and others.

f) FPS will maintain a commitment to hiring staff including district leadership who reflect the immigrant communities and will make a specific effort to recruit and retain FPS graduates who are immigrants. In order to promote employee understanding of Framingham’s immigrant communities, the district will continue to partner with consulates, embassies, and professional exchange programs and to provide professional development for teachers. Administrator professional development will promote cultural competency and/or humility among school staff including building leadership, counselors, and social workers.