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Welcome back!

March 10 is fast approaching. It’s almost time to move those clocks forward an hour. If you have, or have had, young children, March 10 is nothing short of horological terror. You spend three hours the night before negotiating a bedtime agreement that rivals the Treaty of Versailles, nobody abides by the agreement, and then the next thing you know its 9am the next day and everybody is hangry for hot breakfast.

Moving on to the news… here’s what we have for you this week:

1. “Parental Rights” Movement Surfaces In School Committee Race

2. SudburyWeekly.com News Roundup

3. School Committee Q&A’s Are Available

4. Events!

5. LWV Voters’ Guide Now Available

Let’s get into it!

“Parental Rights” Movement Surfaces In School Committee Race

By Kevin LaHaise

The “parental rights'' movement is widespread across the country. Some credit a group called Moms for Liberty in Florida for starting the movement a few years ago, primarily in reaction to Covid-19 measures related to remote learning, mask-mandates and vaccination requirements. But the concept of parental rights in public education has long been used by conservative groups to oppose issues from desegregation of public schools to sex education, and to advance their policy positions. While the banner of “parental rights'' has been used to generate mainstream support for a variety of education policy positions, many regional and local parental rights groups focus almost exclusively on opposition to inclusion policies in public schools for LGBTQ+ students. 

A current candidate for the Sudbury School Committee, Richard Thalmann, indicated a desire to replicate the work of the Parental Rights Natick group in Sudbury in a Facebook post on November 9, 2023, and objected to a book in a classroom at Curtis Middle School during a school committee meeting on October 16, 2023. He has since posted clarifications of his beliefs on the Facebook group “One Sudbury.”

He wrote in November: 

“I've submitted a request through parental rights Natick to work together. I'd like to replicate their amazing work in Sudbury. Looking forward to working with them Parental Rights Sudbury.”

The comment was on a post praising the Natick group’s new website in a related Facebook group called Massachusetts Informed Parents. Parental Rights Natick has focused almost exclusively on opposition to gender identity policies and inclusive curriculum at Natick Public Schools. 

Massachusetts Informed Parents, much like the Natick group, focuses heavily on opposition to existing public school gender identity policies and inclusion policies for LGBTQ+ students, which are largely based on State-level guidance and laws. 

A “Parental Rights Sudbury” Facebook group did show up on Facebook, but has since gone private or been deleted, according to Facebook. The links to that group still appear in search results on some search engines. Prior to the group going private or being deleted, Facebook displayed that it had dozens of members. We contacted Thalmann to ask if he was the creator of that group and to determine if it is still active. Thalmann did not respond. 

It’s unclear if the Sudbury group has or had a platform similar to the Natick group, though Thalmann’s intentions to “replicate” the work of the Natick Parental Rights group were clear. 

Thalmann joined the October 16, 2023, meeting of the Sudbury School Committee to object to books he found in a classroom at Curtis Middle School. (2:00)

Thalmann’s comments focused on one book in particular, Lily and Dunkin, which he felt was inappropriate for middle school. The description of the book states: “For readers who enjoyed Wonder and Counting by 7's, award-winning author Donna Gephart crafts a compelling story about two remarkable young people: Lily, a transgender girl, and Dunkin, a boy dealing with bipolar disorder. Their powerful journey, perfect for fans of Wonder, will shred your heart, then stitch it back together with kindness, humor, bravery, and love.” The book is also part of the catalog at the Goodnow Library.

On October 16, after spending several minutes reading excerpts and commenting on the plot, Thalmann stated: 

Lily and Duncan was published in 2016, and received awards and accolades from NPR, the New York Public Library, the Junior Library Guild, the Young Adult Library Services Association and the American Library Association. However, it has been subject to bans and challenges across the country. PEN America, a non-profit that supports free expression and writers, and tracks book bans, notes that books featuring transgender characters account for approximately 9% of banned books. Lily and Duncan appears on its list of commonly-banned books featuring transgender stories. 

There were no explicit mentions of these topics on the platform page of Thalmann’s campaign website at the time this article was published. However, on February 29, Thalmann posted on a Facebook group called “One Sudbury,” sharing his personal family experiences that influenced his views. In that post he voiced his support of transgender, non-binary, and gender non-conforming students, as well as gender-neutral bathrooms in schools. He qualified his support for using preferred pronouns and the availability of LGBTQ+ literature:

“Do I support using the pronouns that match the student’s gender identity? Yes, but I believe this is a parent and family choice.”

“Do you support the free access to LGBTQ+ books and teachers who have these books? Yes, and I also support a process where parents and families are able to feel comfortable and welcomed to ask questions regarding any books in classrooms or at school. It is when we all have the same knowledge and understanding that we can all better support students.”

On his October school committee appearance, Thalmann said:  “Getting back to my public comment at the School Committee meeting, first, I take responsibility for what could have been a better approach. I could have addressed my questions with the teacher, principal, and superintendent first.”

We contacted OUT MetroWest about the growing number of parental rights groups in the area. OUT MetroWest focuses on building “communities where LGBTQ+ youth thrive,” and they were also a sponsor of last year’s Family Pride Day in Sudbury. They provided the following statement: 

SudburyWeekly.com News Roundup

We have a TON of great stories on the website this week. From art to local school history, to recreation and more. Here’s what you’ll find this week:

School Committee Q&A’s Are Available

As Sudbury Weekly has done in prior years, we offered the opportunity for all candidates in contested races in the Town Election to answer a few questions. We publish any and all responses we receive. This week we published the SPS School Committee Q&A’s. We send our thanks to the candidates for responding thoughtfully and thoroughly.

Thoughts In Return? A Q&A With Mary Stephens, SPS Candidate

Thoughts in Return? A Q&A With Karyn Jones, SPS Candidate

LWV Voters’ Guide Now Available

By the League of Women Voters of Sudbury

The Voters’ Guide to the candidates in the March 25 Town Election is now available on the League of Women Voters’ website, www.lwvsudbury.org.

The Voters’ Guide includes the candidates’ responses to the question, “What are the first two issues you would address if elected, and how would you address them?”

Links to the candidates’ websites and social media sites, the LWV Candidates’ Forums, and the League’s Election FAQs are also in the guide.

Parting Thoughts

On Thursday afternoon the Peter Noyes Elementary School community was notified of the passing of Colby Caravaggio; the school’s beloved art teacher for 25 years. “Mr. C,” as the kids called him, was not just any art teacher. He had a way of connecting with kids, and they seemed to learn how to use art to help them process feelings that don’t always translate easily into words at their age.

When Covid hit, Mr. C was undeterred, regularly finding creative ways to keep art in the lives of students, and in turn helping them cope with what was happening all around them. The school-wide art show carried on virtually that year, with all the optimism, kindness, and endearing silliness that students loved about Mr. C.

At Peter Noyes, art displays became defining memories and enduring lessons for many students. In 2022, Mr. C led the “Rainbow Mural” project, which was inspired by a quote from Maya Angelou: “Be a rainbow in somebody else's cloud.”

Mr. C is credited with frequently saying “look for the glimmers.” After days of clouds and rain this week, the students returned to Peter Noyes on Friday morning with the sun shining. Noyes staff, joined by Superintendent Crozier, walked out to greet students at drop-off. Members of the Noyes community carried on with heavy hearts, but with glimmers of light all around them.

A GoFundMe has been established to support Mr. C’s family. You can find that page here.