Rochester Memorial School parent calls for recall of School Committee
Luis Rivera speaks at a June 3 Rochester School Committee meeting. Photo by Grace Roche
Luis Rivera speaks at a June 3 Rochester School Committee meeting. Photo by Grace Roche
ROCHESTER — The parent of a Rochester Memorial School student is calling for a recall of the five members of the school committee following his frustration over how the school handled an incident earlier this year.
Luis Rivera cites dereliction of duty, allowing a toxic school culture and a major loss of public confidence in the recall initiation affidavit he filed with the town Monday, Aug. 3.
He is now collecting signatures from Rochester voters, with a goal of 500 signatures by the end of the month, according to a recent post in a town Facebook group.
Since May, Rivera has been demanding the school change its current bathroom use policy, which allows students to use the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity, to instead "separate bathrooms by biological sex.”
This move follows Rivera’s frustration over how the school handled an incident earlier this year, when he reported a transgender girl pushed open the door of the bathroom stall his daughter was in.
He attended two School Committee meetings to ask the school for a full investigation of the incident, and said he was upset about school policies that allowed students who weren’t born female to use the girls’ bathroom.
Massachusetts general law prohibits discriminating against students based on protected identities, including gender identity, and excluding them from "the advantages, privileges and courses of study” their school offers.
According to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, schools are also required to provide transgender students access to the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity.
It is also against state law to disclose student records, including disciplinary actions, to the public, so any disciplinary action that followed the incident would not be shared with Rivera or the public.
Rivera has also filed a filed a complaint under the federal Title IX statute against the Old Rochester Regional School District last week, with a letter filed by his lawyer to the district claiming his 9-year-old daughter is the victim of sexual harassment.
When reached by phone, Rivera declined to comment on his effort to recall the School Committee.
Due to an ongoing investigation into the matter, members of the committee also declined to comment.
