June 7, 2017
The Public Schools of Brookline has a diverse group of principals, and we support all of them. Our principals vary in age, experience, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender and tenure in Brookline. As Superintendent, I fully support Dr. Asa Sevelius and how he is openly addressing his gender transition.
I appreciate and deeply respect Dr. Sevelius. He is being open, courageous, and honest. As he wrote to families, his transition has come after many years, prolonged introspection, and careful and critical conversations with family and close friends. I fully agree with what Dr. Sevelius said in his letter to families — the ability to live life openly and authentically will make him a stronger, more effective school leader.
In his letter, Dr. Sevelius identified some very helpful resources for families to guide them in their conversations about gender transition with their children. Dr. Sevelius also provided some wise guidance about being straightforward and simple when speaking with children and provided examples of phrases parents could use. I urge families, staff, and community members to look at and use these resources.
The Public Schools of Brookline’s core value of Respect for Human Differences calls on all of us to “acknowledge and celebrate the diversity within our community while affirming the importance of our common humanity.” Every day in our classrooms and schools, our teachers, our students, and our staff work hard to live up to our core value of respecting human differences. Supporting Dr. Sevelius is yet another example of how we will continue to honor the diversity and the common humanity among our entire school community.
The Public Schools of Brookline is and will remain a community that supports and embraces everyone. This has been our long standing core value; a value that we are more resolute than ever to uphold and celebrate.
Sincerely,
Andrew Bott
Superintendent