School Committee adopts statement against hate
School Committee · Meeting of October 5, 2026
Winchester School Committee unanimously adopts a statement condemning hate after anti-LGBTQ posts targeted a McCall Middle School teacher and a student banner. Chair Timothy Matthews drafted the statement with input from Superintendent Dr. Hackett and administrators, after posts on a group called Massachusetts Concerned Parents spread to a national anti-LGBTQ social media account that later posted photos of Principal Dr.
James Lin. Hackett said none of the resulting voicemails came from Winchester parents, "none of them were from Massachusetts, in fact." Matthews, invoking his own family, said "our children have two dads, and they're being raised in Winchester." The committee also voted 5-0 to launch a screening process for Winchester's first Human Rights Commission, which has already drawn 16 applications, including nine from Winchester High School students, and separately adopted an updated naming policy, Policy FF, also 5-0.
In the full story:
- Who Was There
- Organizations And Documents Referenced
- The complete report — 2,816 words
Source: the School Committee meeting of October 5, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
Keep reading with a 30-day free trial
Subscribe to Middlesex County News to keep reading this post and get 30 days of free access to the full post archives.
Starting a trial requires a payment method. After 30 free days your subscription begins at the price shown at checkout and renews automatically until you cancel. You can cancel anytime from your account. Subscription terms
A subscription gets you:
- Subscriber-only posts and full archive
- Post comments and join the community
- 24x7 access to local news