Accusations continue to fly on Freetown Lakeville School Committee

LAKEVILLE — Strong words were exchanged between members of the Freetown Lakeville School Committee at the committee’s Sept. 25 meeting, the latest in a series of tumultuous interactions involving sexism and racism accusations directed at some members.

Tempers soared at the end of an otherwise routine meeting when School Committee member Carolina Hernandez responded to a statement made by fellow committee member Jennifer Blum at the committee’s Sept. 4 meeting.  

Hernandez said Blum had taken out of context the wording of an email she had sent to the school committee, which Blum had described as racist in nature.

The statements were the latest in a volley of exchanges that began after committee member Crystal Ng filed an open meeting law violation complaint that accused Blum and fellow committee members Will Sienkewicz, Stephen Sylvia and Robert Clark of making “sexist” comments with “underlying tones of racism.” 

Blum made a statement denouncing that charge at the committee’s Sept. 4 meeting. As part of that statement, she read aloud part of an email sent by Hernandez to the school committee after the group’s Aug. 21 meeting. 

The email included the wording: “The chair lost control over the crowd and the ladies, I use this term loosely, sounded like hyenas. It just felt like our meeting was held in a project complex.” 

Blum said that the first time she had witnessed “any form of racism” on the committee came in the form of that email.  

Hernandez accused Blum of “misconstruing” the language she used in the email during the committee’s Sept. 25 meeting. 

She said she meant to convey that the meeting was “out of control and disrespectful.’’

Hernandez said she volunteers in “project neighborhoods” and noted that at times, the environment can be “loud and scary.” Her intention in comparing the behavior of the crowd to “a project complex,” she said, was to highlight the “disrespect” of certain audience members during the Aug. 21 meeting. 

Saying those statements were racist resulted in a “character assassination,’’ Hernandez said to Blum.

Blum responded by asking School Committee Chair John Burke to reiterate the conclusion the committee had reached with regard to prior accusations of “racism” and “sexism” made by Ng. 

Burke said the committee had “refused to accept’’ that characterization.

Blum inquired about the status of the committee’s investigation into the email Ng had sent to a member of the public that contained confidential information about a student and was in relation to the superintendent’s evaluation. 

Blum shared that she had found a second email containing private information that Ng had sent in addition to the one that prompted the investigation and called for a more exhaustive search of Ng’s emails.  

The committee voted to have member Courtney Brightman, who was not named in any of the accusations, work with Superintendent Alan Strauss and the district’s legal counsel to review all emails sent by Crystal Ng since the beginning of her term on April 1. 

Several members of the public weighed in on the negative impact resulting from the group’s ongoing division.

Resident Becky Cushing called for the need to stop “ the intentional sabotage” and “looking for things that simply just aren’t there.” 

“I am one of the ladies… who was referred to as a hyena,” she said. “Is this promoting progress? I don’t think so.” 

Audience member Christopher Dudley, who said he was present at the Aug. 21 meeting, called Hernandez's description a “miscategorization” and an attack on “members of the community for asking questions.”