Wayland Superintendent Placed On Leave Over Multiple Complaints Uses Racist Graffiti Incident As Pretext To File Discrimination Complaint

 

This is Wayland Superintendent Omar Easy.

Easy was a standout football player at Everett High School in the late 90’s before going to to play at Penn State and eventually for the Chiefs and Raiders in the NFL.

According to his resume he received a PhD in Educational Leadership and Legal Studies from Penn State, after getting his MBA from the online school University of Phoenix.

Despite never teaching a day in his life Easy was appointed Vice Principal of Everett High School in 2012. From there he climbed his way up the ladder to Director of Organizational Assessment for the City of Everett, followed by a two year stint as Executive Director/Vice Principal of the Academies of Everett. Whatever that means.

In his interview Easy bragged about being a camp counselor and substitute teacher 20 years ago:

But Easy told the School Committee during a December interview that he has always loved working as an educator — he was a camp counselor and substitute teacher during college. In 2020, he applied to become the Everett superintendent, as well as the Quincy superintendent, according to the Everett Independent.

He used these building blocks to put together what appeared to be a stellar resume, which likely impressed the Wayland School Committee when he applied for the job in 2020. Wayland is an overwhelmingly white (less than 1% of the population is black), wealthy (median household income is over $200K), and liberal (nearly 80% voted for Biden). It’s a community that brags about how they value diversity but has very little of it.

Easy applied for the job during a time when BLM was being force fed down our throats by the corporate media, large corporations, and every public institution. He talked about the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion, which is exactly what the white liberals of Wayland wanted to hear. Most importantly, he himself represented diversity, which gave him an obvious advantage over other candidates.

However, his tenure since being hired two years ago has been rocky, and finally culminated with him being placed on leave last week. Today, in the least surprising turn of events ever, it was announced that he filed a discrimination complaint against the school district for (you guessed it) racism.

But how did it get to this in less than 2 years? How did a liberal, BLM community reach the point where they chose to part ways with one of the few black superintendents in the state?

Mission

Easy has gained a significant amount of media coverage during his two years as superintendent. Last year corporate controlled NBC interviewed him about how he was “tackling tough conversations about race” in schools.

He has only been on the job for seven months, but Easy has made equity and inclusion a big part of his mission. Easy is also focused on diversifying the staff and closing the achievement gap. The superintendent said he is making sure everyone in the district knows inequities cannot be addressed unless everyone is on board. He commended Wayland for making a conscious effort to change the status quo and is looking forward to the future.

“I said, ‘A courageous action is needed for you to hire me here. If you’re not serious about change, do not offer me the job,'” Easy said.

“Most of the time, I’m the only Black person in the room, but it doesn’t bother me. I know why I’m here: To ensure every child in the district gets a fair shake,” Easy said.

It was clear that race was going to be a central theme of his leadership.

In December of 2021 students were separated into groups based on their skin color do discuss some sort of racist post that some kid made on Snapchat.

Students of color had the opportunity to join affinity groups first block Monday, Dec. 6, and all other students could talk to grade level counselors after lunch. Here, the students discussed the emotions provoked by this event in a more personal arena. All eighth grade students were brought to the auditorium in two different sessions where Superintendent Omar Easy spoke to them. After the meeting took place, eighth grade students of color were given the opportunity to talk in affinity groups. 

Kids were interrogated KGB style to find out who was the perpetrator.

Throughout the day, many students who had gone to the bathroom during a specific time period were called to the office for questioning. Although the person who wrote this message has not been identified yet, students are being urged to talk to an adult if they know anything

This allowed the white people of Wayland to do their favorite thing – write meaningless platitudes on cardboard signs they held while posing for photos on public sidewalks.

Basketball incident

Last February Easy made headlines when he cancelled all sporting events between Wayland and Westford, after a black girl from Wayland (a METCO student) claimed that she was called racial slurs by Westford students during a basketball game.

Saniyyah Phillips, 17, said she first noticed the taunting from a group of boys sitting in the opposing team’s side during a free throw in the first quarter.

Just trying to get in my head to like make me miss the shot. That’s when they just kept going every quarter,” she told 7NEWS. 

Listen to the girl’s story about what happened:

So a bunch of kids from Westford were loudly calling her the n word while she shot foul shots, but somehow her coach had to ask her to explain what was wrong because he hadn’t heard any racial slurs being directed at her.

I’ve been to girl’s high school basketball games before. They’re usually not sellouts. Often you can hear a pin drop when players shoot free throws. Yet this girl was the only person to hear racial slurs being directed at her the entire second half by Westford students, and not a single person filmed any of it or was alarmed by this overt use of the most inflammatory word in the English language.

OK.

Westford tried to grovel and apologize. They forced all of their athletes to watch a DEI video and sign an Orwellian pledge to support DEI in order to keep playing sports.

In his letter Friday, Antonelli said Westford student athletes are required to watch a video and sign a pledge issued by the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association, to support diversity, equity and inclusion. “We will also do this as the spring season begins,” Antonelli wrote. 

They even went so far as to ban students from attending all sporting events for a week. But this wasn’t enough for Omar Easy, who decided that Westford student athletes and their fans were so subhuman that he could not allow Wayland students to compete against them in sports.

Racist, disparaging, and insensitive remarks targeting one of our athletes were made, referring to her as a ‘pineapple head,’ ‘you need to hit the gym,’ and ‘what does it feel like to be the only black player on the team,’” Easy wrote. “It is inconceivable that one of our students had to endure such disrespectful behavior throughout the entire game. 

Yet somehow they would not have to forfeit these games because the MIAA is equally as woke.

A spokeswoman for the MIAA said Wayland teams would not be at a disadvantage if they opt out of playing Westford in the spring season

According to Easy’s resume he just so happens to be a MIAA Board Member, serving on the Committee for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion since 2017.

Click to access Omar%20Easy%20Resume.pdf

In response to the alleged incident Wayland hired four DEI consulting companies, including one owned by Holden resident Soudie Tahmassebipour, who recently attempted to violate the civil rights of an award winning journalist and parent attending a School Committee meeting.

Easy was treated as some sort of victim by other superintendents in attendance, which he seems to relish.

Investigation into complaints

In November of 2022 the School Committee hired a private investigator after half a dozen complaints from unnamed Wayland administrators were filed, alleging he berated, shamed, and bullied them at a meeting.

Wayland School Committee Chair Chris Ryan said six to seven complaints were made about Easy’s behavior at an Oct. 13 administrative council meeting. The complaints said Easy was “berating,” “shaming” and “bullying” people at the meeting. The complaints were made verbally and anonymously directly to Ryan. 

 

METCO leaders voice opposition to investigation

METCO is a program that buses students from Boston into predominantly white school districts in an attempt to diversify the student body and provide school choice opportunities to young people. Almost all METCO students are all black, and Wayland has a METCO program. At the November School Committee meeting the METCO director and several METCO students showed up to object to the investigation, and demand that Easy not be put on leave while it took place.

During Thursday’s meeting, a number of Easy supporters — including Wayland METCO Director La Toya Rivers, students and parents — spoke in his favor, asking the school committee not to put him on leave. But several who spoke during public comment complained about decisions Easy has made during his 18 months on the job, and about how he communicates with teachers and administrators. Apart from the complaints about the Oct. 13 meeting, the school committee is also looking into whether Easy failed to finish employee evaluations at the end of the 2021-22 school year

Tulani Husband, the assistant principal at Claypit Hill Elementary, told the committee she was at the Oct. 13 meeting, and didn’t feel uncomfortable. Suspending Easy during the investigation could send a bad message to students of color in Wayland, Husband said

Apparently it sends a bad message to students of color when adults are treated equally.

The School Committee launched the investigation into Easy on November 10. By one vote they allowed him to remain on as superintendent during the investigation, but with the caveat that he would be placed on leave if he interfered with the investigation.

 

Racist graffiti incident

Easy was not happy about the investigation. Then coincidentally, while the investigation was ongoing, racist graffiti appeared near the high school on December 21, calling the superintendent the n word.

 

The police launched an investigation, and right on cue the community and superintendents from around the state rallied to Easy’s defense.

I stand with Dr. Omar Easy. pic.twitter.com/AFD0Asagly

— Boston Public Schools Superintendent Mary Skipper (@SuptMarySkipper) December 23, 2022

It was an honor to be part of this esteemed group to condemn the hateful act against Wayland Superintendent, Dr. Omar Easy. https://t.co/bkgaVgjhs4

— CPS CCHS Super (@cps_cchs) December 23, 2022

 

It was an “honor” for them to get their chance to virtue signal about how they condemn racist graffiti. Just in case any of you were wondering where these people stand on the very polarizing issue of racist graffiti.

 

METCO leaders use graffiti incident to push for end to investigation

At the January 7 School Committee meeting METCO directors showed up, including La Toya Rivers, and former director Mabel Reid-Wallace. They flat out stated, without any evidence, that the racist graffiti was a direct result of the investigation into Easy, and demanded that they cease the investigation. They suggested that the investigation was only taking place because Easy is black and Wayland is an inherently racist community. They demanded more anti-racism (DEI) training, which would result in more checks being written to diversity consultant friends who they likely had on speed dial.

During the time for public comments, former METCO director Mabel Reid-Wallace, who, in 2020, filed a discrimination complaint against the Wayland Public School system, also gave a pubic comment. She began by sharing her disappointment that Wayland has not progressed much since she left the district, and that the attacks against Easy revert back to using what she referred to as, “the stereotypical Black man role.” She believes that racism has been embedded in Wayland for years, and in order to see change, Wayland must acknowledge its racist aspects.

“I come here tonight and I say to you as a school committee, look at what you do,” Reid-Wallace said. “Look at what you did that precipitated those two words written on the side of that building. You gave people the permission to step out and say ‘this is how I truly feel.’”

During the questions, the unofficial “four main points,” as coined by School Committee Vice Chair Ellen Grieco, were dismissing the investigation into the Nov. 10, 2022, School Committee meeting, ensuring that all staff are professionally trained to deal with race-based issues, requiring a more socially-diverse curriculum and keeping affinity groups for students in Wayland.

YOU did that Wayland School Committee. You made racial slurs appear on a building because you investigated a man who had 7 formal complaints against him.

I’m not suggesting that Omar Easy wrote those words on the building, or has knowledge of who did it. But the fact of the matter is that the racial slurs were being used by METCO officials in his defense as a pretext to end the investigation into the highest paid employee in the district, and start paying their friends to do DEI training.

As grifters often do for any political issue they are pushing, they also brought kids up to speak about how horribly racist the town is, and demand that they be allowed to separate themselves into groups based on race.

“What happened on Dec. 21 should never happen to anyone despite their skin tone, religion or race,” Montrad said. “We don’t deserve to see something so painful, in a community we travel an hour to for an education, in a community that claims to be welcoming to everyone.”

Wayland METCO students advocated for the preservation of affinity spaces, a specific space for people with a shared affiliation such as race, gender or sexuality, in Wayland Public Schools. The METCO students also vocalized their disappointment in the lack of Black history taught in the WHS curriculum.

“Most METCO students find it hard to open up to the students in our community,” Montrad said. “Sadly, most teachers only touch on teaching their students the importance of [Black] history and culture. There was never an environment [in Wayland] where we felt or that our opinion had an impact in the community.”

They are teaching these kids, who chose to go to this school district, to become perpetual victims. Students are openly calling their overwhelmingly liberal teaching staff of Wayland High School racist. The cure for that, in their opinion, are “affinity spaces,” which ban certain students from joining due to the color of their skin. It’s OK because they have the “shared affiliation of race.” Racially segregating black kids in school seems to defeat the purpose of the METCO program.

It got crazier – METCO parents demanded that white parents keep their kids home from school on January 17 to “educate them on their own racial biases.”

After the METCO students read their statement, Rivers invited the executive board members of the Wayland’s Boston Parent Council, Chanel Daly, Susan Young and Taisha Stevens, to read a statement on behalf of all METCO parents. Their statement called for the end of racial inequality within Wayland and announced the “Day of Impact” on Jan. 17, where METCO parents will not send their children to school in order to raise awareness about racial discrimination within Wayland’s community. The executive board members urged Wayland parents to participate by keeping their kids home and educating them on their own racial biases.

“We’re willing to help you [understand racism],” Wayland Boston Parent Council Treasurer Stevens said. “We’re a team, you can learn from us, we can learn from you. We can make [anti-racist work] happen, but we all need to be on the same page and you need to be willing to do this.”

The message was clear – join their social justice cult or else you’re racist. The only type of parents who would actually do this are the white, self-deprecating, ultra progressives who they already have the support of.

They also said the silent part out loud by stating it was “essential” to “protect” Easy.

Rivers responded by addressing the racial implications of hiring a Black superintendent and how it is essential that Wayland supports Easy. Rivers stated that the School Committee was responsible for putting the investigation into place, and that the Committee should have taken steps to protect Easy themselves instead of bringing an outsider into the investigation.

“For a superintendent of color to be challenged for something that seems so trivial in a day-to-day interaction, for a superintendent to be called out by a School Committee, to the level that the School Committee had to look into getting an outside investigator [and] to say that’s to protect him, rises to another level,” Rivers said.

The meeting ended with Easy crying while addressing the crowd about how the community was “responsible” for the racism, as he presented himself as the official protector of black children from racism.

The meeting concluded with a statement from Easy. He spoke on the impact that the racist attack had on himself, his family and the Wayland community. He thanked the Wayland community for their support and visibly teared up as he discussed the impact of the event on himself, METCO students and their families.

“No one needs to be blamed [for the racism], but we are responsible,” Easy said. “I won’t waver from my moral responsibility for people of color. No one should feel unsafe in any level of Wayland Public Schools. People have been feeling unsafe, and I speak against that, and I stand against it.”

 

February 9 – Easy put on leave

On February 9 the School Committee announced that Easy was being put on leave, but did not explain why. However, they said earlier that this would happen if Easy interfered with the investigation into him. This begs the question, did police find information while reviewing Easy’s phone and communications that led them to believe that he was involved with the racist graffiti incident? If not, why haven’t the police announced any leads into the investigation 2 months later? I thought the person responsible would be held accountable?

Thus far the only person who has received any punishment since the incident is Omar Easy. Take from that what you will.

 

February 12 – Easy announces complaint filed against Wayland School District

Predictably, Easy wasted no time blaming his paid vacation on racism, in a complaint filed with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination

In the complaint, Easy said he was dismissed from his job without explanation on Wednesday, less than three weeks after he raised concerns about a “racially hostile environment. He singled out the School Committee’s chair and vice chair, Chris Ryan and Ellen Grieco, for fostering discriminatory working conditions. 

Easy himself cited the racist graffiti in his complaint as evidence of a hostile work environment.

In the complaint, Easy describes several incidents that he alleged caused “severe and persistent harm” to his reputation and emotional health, including the discovery in December of racist graffiti targeting Easy at a public pool near Wayland High School. The graffiti called Easy the n-word, according to a photo attached to Easy’s complaint. Easy said in the complaint the incident was “an unfortunately predictable result of the racially hostile work environment created by the School Committee’s actions and inactions.”

After the graffiti was found, Easy e-mailed the School Committee and asked its members to take “immediate steps” to remedy the hostile work environment, but “months later the School Committee has still not acted,” Easy alleged.

Again, I am not saying Easy was responsible for or involved with the graffiti incident. However, he has repeatedly used it to his advantage in order to rally support for his cause, pressure the district into ending the investigation into him for multiple complaints, and blame School Committee members for being the cause of it. Now he’s using it to file a complaint against the district.

Take from that what you will.