Proposed road renaming for former Worcester school safety director draws public pushback

WORCESTER ― A proposal to name a street in front of North High School after a former safety director drew criticism from residents at a school committee meeting Thursday.

Several people who spoke described former safety director Robert F. Pezzella as a divisive figure who unfairly targeted black students in his disciplinary practices.

Pezzella served as Worcester Public Schools’ safety director from 1997 until March 2023, when he retired. The proposal to name the street after him, which was made by District C member Dianna Biancheria, said Pezzella helped launch the North High School Alumni Association and helped create numerous successful programs and initiatives during his time worked in Worcester.

Pezzella helped create the school safety center, allowing students to bring school safety concerns directly to the district; and also the Turn it Around drug education program, which aims to help students with drugs or alcohol on school grounds.

Biancheria said Pezzella has had a big impact on the community and has collected signatures from other residents to name the road after Pezzella.

“I have over 70 signatures by attending neighborhood meetings. I look forward to having that discussion, and I look forward to having additional signatures in our community, and I certainly anticipate a full discussion,” Biancheria said.

However, members of the public said Thursday that naming a street after Pezzella would be a weak message to send to Worcester students.

“The names we choose for our streets and public spaces hold deep symbolic power, especially for our young people, so it is essential that our public honors reflect the full spectrum of contributions that are made to our community,” said Roberto Diaz in public time. comment period. “Continuing to name buildings after powerful white men sends a special message to our students and our community, especially our students of color, that their contributions and histories are undervalued at a time when we are all trying to foster a more inclusive environment. “

Heather Stanek, a former Worcester student who reported being sexually assaulted while a student in the 1990s, before Pezzella was safety director, said Pezzella was hostile to her and other rape survivor advocates before a 2022 School Committee meeting.

“The night I publicly broke my silence about the sexual abuse I suffered in Worcester Public Schools, the first administrator I met was Rob Pezzella when he walked into the building,” Stanek said . “He asked why we were there? If he could help, or if he needed anything? He didn’t do it. He showed a flyer we had with us and said he didn’t want us there. When confronted by survivors and activist citizen advocates with a myriad of first-hand experiences of bullying and harassment in schools, his response was to shut us down, lock us up, and kick us out. He is not a person who reflects who we are as a city.”

The committee voted to refer the matter to the administration, which, according to Vice President Jermaine Johnson, will conduct a review with feedback from North High faculty and the general public on possibly naming the road after Pezzella.

At-large representative Sue Mailman said she believes the district needs a more definitive system for dedicating buildings and other things to people, and alluded to practices used during Pezzella’s time as school safety director that the district moved away from.

“I feel like there’s a method of operating with climate and safety that’s different than what it is now, and it kind of flies in the face of where we are now with our climate versus what we were doing then,” Mailman said.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Dedicating road to former school safety director draws public pushback