HDTC Engagement Survey

If you're a current or former member, or an ally who would like to get more involved in our work, please take a few minutes to fill out our online survey. This very brief survey is anonymous. It will help us plan activities and events in 2022 that match your interests and preferences.

The deadline for submitting feedback is 12/31/21. 

Thanks for helping us plan and deliver on our shared Democratic ideals!

 

Hate Speech in Holliston Schools

After a spate of hate speech incidents at the middle and high schools, residents are banding together to demand answers and action. Over the past several weeks, hate speech based on race, religion, and gender identity/sexual orientation has been discovered in various locations at both schools.

School and district personnel have responded with whole-school lessons and by soliciting student and parent involvement in ongoing anti-hate programming. Yet, many families and residents wonder if enough is being done to identify the perpetrators and implement effective restorative justice. 

Concerned citizens have organized a peaceful gathering to denounce hate in all forms in Holliston. The Enough Is Enough rally will be held at 3 pm this Thursday, November 11, at Holliston Town Hall. Learn more and pledge to attend at the Enough Is Enough Facebook Page. We strongly encourage HDTC members and supporters to attend and make it clear that hate has no home in Holliston.

You may also wish to join Diverse Holliston, a Facebook group dedicated to fighting discrimination in all forms in our town, our state, and beyond.

 On SEL and CRT in Holliston Schools

At its September 27 meeting, the Holliston Select Board voted to exclude from the Town Warrant a citizen's petition article aimed at prohibiting the teaching of "Critical Race Theory" (CRT) in Holliston schools. Ultimately, Town Counsel advised that the petition was likely illegal and unenforceable, as Town Meeting has no authority over curriculum decisions. Here, we explain the back story to this petition and why, in the end, it became a non-issue.

Our national politics and life in general are fraught with controversy, division and misinformation, seemingly more than ever before. Holliston is no different. National issues become local issues and both sides of any argument want to defend their opinions, whether fact-based or not.

The most visual and heated discussion of late on Holliston social media focuses on Critical Race Theory (CRT) and whether it will or should be taught in Holliston schools. If you’re not on any Holliston social media sites, and/or you don’t have school-age kids, you may not even be aware of the controversy. With this article, we hope to enlighten readers with the facts.

First, what is particularly frustrating about this “argument” is that it is based on deliberate misrepresentation of the facts in an attempt to sow discord and further murky political ends. The term “Critical Race Theory” is used to incite others despite the fact that no one is proposing teaching CRT in Holliston schools. In fact, CRT is a is a theory (not a curriculum) taught to law school students studying race and the law. It is not appropriate for nor accessible to elementary and secondary school students.

What is actually being proposed and implemented is Social Emotional Learning (SEL). SEL is a series of research-based, research-validated practices addressing issues of mental health, diversity, inclusion, and identity that challenge today’s youth. SEL is being used in Holliston and most other Massachusetts school districts to help create and sustain safe and supportive schools (a term used by the Mass. Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Education) that support all students in:

• Feeling safe and well physically, socially, emotionally, behaviorally and academically.

• Working to build community connectedness and positive relationships with adults, families/guardians, and peers of similar and different cultural, ethnic, and racial backgrounds.

• Collaboratively developing emotional intelligence skills such as developing healthy identities, managing emotions, achieving personal and collective goals, feeling and showing empathy for others, establishing and maintaining supportive relationships, and making responsible and caring decisions.

• Experiencing a sense of agency and learning to self-advocate in appropriate ways, engaging effectively and productively with learning experiences.

• Developing a sense of competence and academic success with multiple opportunities to learn and practice newly developing skills as part of a productive community.

A safe and supportive school has social emotional learning as a key component promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion strategies that help all students to feel seen, heard, and valued. The work is about a whole school community that includes students, staff, and families all feeling that they belong and are welcomed.

There will always be disagreements about what and how schools should teach students. After all, our children are our most cherished resource. However, when these disagreements become crusades laced with falsehood and insinuation, it’s incumbent on all of us to take notice. We need to educate ourselves and our peers about the true nature of Social Emotional Learning and the positive ways it can impact all of our children and prepare them to lead us into the future.

Holliston Democrats' Virtual Townwide Caucus Details

This year's Caucus, on Saturday, July 10 at 10 AM, will be 100% virtual. Here's what that means for you:

1. Pre-Register Now

To make the process go as smoothly as humanly possible, please pre-register for the caucus by following this link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAlceCprToiGdD52PoP9VeoX8-gPpoMoP0m

You will receive the caucus zoom link by email once you pre-register.

Even if you only plan to attend the DTC business meeting afterwards, or if you want to be a guest at the caucus but not a candidate or delegate, or if you're not sure but might attend, please pre-register. 

2. Join the Zoom Caucus Early on July 10

Check-in will be open from 9:30 AM - 10:15 AM. Our virtual “doors” will close at 10:15. (Meaning, no one will be admitted to the waiting room after 10:15 AM. If you're in the waiting room before 10:15, you will are considered "in line" and are guaranteed admittance.) 

We hope many of our members will attend the caucus. We have 12 seats to fill (8 delegates, 4 alternates). The State Convention is Saturday, Sept. 25 at the Tsongas Center at UMass-Lowell. If you want to run to be a delegate, be sure your calendar is free that day!

Calling all Holliston Registered Democrats:

2021 Caucus Announced

Holliston Democratic Town Committee members will host a virtual caucus to elect delegates to the 2021 Massachusetts Democratic State Convention. The Zoom caucus will convene at 10 a.m. Saturday, July 10 and all Holliston Democrats are encouraged to participate. Phone credentials will also be posted on the Holliston DTC event calendar.

Caucus registration and the Zoom waiting room will be open at 9:30 a.m. We will be checking voter registration status of attendees as they're admitted. Our "virtual" doors will close at 10:15. Everyone in the waiting room at 10:15 will be admitted, but none thereafter. 

The caucus is open to the public and press, but only Holliston registered and preregistered Democrats are eligible to participate in the voting. Pre-registered Democrats must be 16 years or older to participate. Same-day registration is allowed. 

Delegates must be present at the caucus to be elected (with the exception of persons serving in the U.S. Armed Forces, with prior notice). Holliston will be voting to elect 8 delegates and 4 alternate delegates to represent them at the convention. Those not elected as a delegate or alternate and who meet the qualifications can apply separately to be an add-on delegate in the following categories: youth, minority, disabled, LGBTQ, or as a convention volunteer. Caucus attendees requiring hearing-related accommodations will be able to use closed captioning through Zoom. 

This year’s Massachusetts Democratic State Convention will take place Saturday, September 25 at the Tsongas Center, UMass-Lowell. This will be a platform convention without candidate nominations. For more information about the caucus, the convention, or the Holliston Democratic Town Committee, contact Lisa Kaplan.

Town Election Results

Congratulations to those elected and thanks to all who ran. We appreciate your service to the town! For complete election results, visit the Town Clerk's web page.

Town Election Info!

The Holliston town election will be held May 25, from 7 AM - 8 PM at the Holliston High School Field House. You can also apply to vote by mail from the town web site, but time is running out as all ballots must be mailed to you, filled out, and returned to the Town Clerk by election day.

A current candidate list is available at the Holliston Reporter. 

You can also view interviews with various candidates on Mary Greendale's show, Just Thinking on HCAT.

 

Our Earth, Our Future

Climate Change and Prospects for a Clean Energy Transition

When: April 12, 7:00-8:15 P.M.

Where: Zoom (Reserve your free spot now!)

Noted author Jay Turner will lead a lively discussion about moving forward with positive solutions that address climate change and energy needs.

Mr. Turner is Department Chair of Environmental Studies at Wellesley College where he teaches courses on climate change, environmental history, and environmental politics. He is the author most recently of The Republican Reversal: Conservatives and the Environment from Nixon to Trump.