Credit: Kyle Zhang

District Attorney Marian T. Ryan gives a presentation on hate crimes in a Q&A with the community on Monday, Nov. 10.

Community members expressed their dissatisfaction with Wayland Public School administrators and District Attorney Marian T. Ryan during a community conversation on Monday, Nov. 10 regarding the racist incident that recently occurred at Wayland High School and past hate crimes.

Notably in attendance were Superintendent David Fleishman, Town Manager Michael McCall, Assistant Superintendent Betsy Gavron and Chief of Police Ed Burman.

Wayland community members and parents brought up complaints and concerns about the repercussions of the racist incident and how it affects the community. Wayland police are still conducting investigations, creating various legal barriers and preventing the Wayland Public Schools Administration from releasing any specific details regarding the hate crime itself.

“I understand why you can’t talk about the details of an investigation, I think everyone here does,” a longtime Wayland resident said. “We’re not expecting you to do that. What we’re expecting to hear is you coming to a meeting like this and saying, ‘We got a problem, and we got to work together, and we got to turn and ask for help.’”

Another resident voiced their frustration that there were too few consequences for committing a hate crime in Wayland, saying the lack of punishment leads to increased racism in the town.

“We always hear that there is going to be an investigation, and then we never hear anything else,” a Wayland resident said. “So it’s as if it just disappears and then nothing ever happens.”

In response to a widely-voiced request for more information, administrators including Fleishman explained that various legal barriers were preventing them from providing explicit details since the racist incident involved minors.

“We are just following the law, but there is accountability in these investigations,” Fleishman said. “I get the frustration, but we’re just kind of limited.”

Some town residents argued that the administrators and District Attorney didn’t fully take responsibility for the incident, and therefore would not be able to solve the issue effectively.

“You can’t address a problem if you don’t acknowledge it exists,” a Wayland resident said.

The problem residents are referring to is a series of hate crimes that occured in the town: a swastika graffitied on the side of the Wayland Community Pool on March 6, racist graffiti found on the pool targeting former Superintendent Omar Easy in 2022 and racist social media posts and graffiti discovered at the Wayland Middle School in 2021.

“We talk about this community being safe, but I can assure you when children are riding on the buses, and they’re seeing the n-word sprayed on the pool house, or a swastika, or continued racist acts, is that a safe community?” a WHS parent said. “We all have to question that.”

A major point of discussion was a method for addressing hate crimes called restorative justice, supported by the District Attorney. A method for handling conflict, restorative justice focuses on healing those who are harmed, rather than punishing perpetrators. However, there was some speculation and hesitation among various audience members in taking this course of action.

“Having worked in many schools as a school adjustment counselor, I think restorative justice—used as it’s meant to be—is an amazing tool,” a Wayland resident said. “But it’s often used as an excuse for lenience.”

Multiple Wayland residents also voiced their frustration that police and administration weren’t doing enough to address and prevent racist issues. Some Wayland parents feel that the investigations of such racist incidents need to be discussed more openly, so that victims can fully receive justice.

“How can a child heal when everything is being swept under the rug?” a Wayland parent asked.

During Ryan’s initial presentation on hate crimes, she said an aspect of her job is to concern herself with whether people feel safe and welcome in their community, regardless of their background or race.

“Do people wonder, because of who they are, whether they belong in their community?,” Ryan said. “And when people think that, or wonder about that, we are less safe.”

Throughout her presentation, Ryan also discussed actions that would help community members report and take legal action against hate crimes. This included the creation of the Anti-Hate Anti-Bias Task Force in 2020.

The task force implemented an online form that asked community members if they had experienced or seen a hate crime. According to Ryan, this would help prevent incidents from going unnoticed because of victims not reporting crimes.

Ryan added that the form was implemented with the goal of encouraging people to bring issues up to authorities despite potentially negative past experiences with law enforcement or a lack of trust.

“It’s often very hard for somebody to actually first acknowledge ‘I’ve been targeted because of who I am,’” Ryan said.

Ryan also spoke about two currently-pending Massachusetts bills. The first requires aggressors to undergo a diversity awareness program known as an Act Regularizing Sentencing for Hate Crimes. The second is the Act to Amend the Definition of a Hate Crime.

In order for a victim of a hate crime to take legal action against property destruction or defacement, the victim needs to directly own the property. The Massachusetts legislature is trying to amend this law to allow victims renting homes or living in dorms to press charges for property damage.

Some Wayland community members voiced that they are unsatisfied with the treatment of these crimes and call for additional policies. Members feel that there isn’t enough collaboration with students to help prevent these incidents in the future.

“We need to acknowledge that the amount of racism, sexism and misogyny is huge,” a Wayland parent said. “If we were to not look at the Adolescent MetroWest Health Survey, but actually talk to the individual students, particularly students of color and other minorities in this community, I think we would see a different picture about what safety looks like.”

The mother of the victim in the recent racist incident called upon the Wayland community to do better and “take a stand” to ensure that racist and discriminatory acts are not tolerated and will be addressed.

“We cannot allow this [incident] to be brushed aside, ignored, or overshadowed by another meeting or communication that fails to confront the gravity of the situation,” the mother of the victim said. “It is unacceptable for my son or any child to feel unsafe in the very place that is meant for learning and growth.”