Veteran Barnstable educator fired after leaving students on field trip

Hope Taylor, a 30-year educator of Barnstable High School, did not return for this school year, the superintendent confirmed.

One of the Barnstable educators under fire for leaving two students behind during a field trip to Boston won’t return to her position as a school administrator this year, the superintendent confirmed.

Previously, dozens of Barnstable High School students, parents, and alumni asked the School Committee to give two Black veteran school administrators, who are married, a second chance after leaving two girls in Boston in April. Many referred to their positive influence on Black and brown students in a district with few educators of color.

Hope Taylor, a 30-year veteran educator at Barnstable High School, did not return to the district this year, Superintendent of Schools Sara Ahern told Boston.com. She, along with her husband Alik Taylor and school counselor Raffaella Almeida, were put on administrator leave in April following the field trip.

Ahern said Alik Taylor and Almeida are current employees at Barnstable High School.

The Cape Cod Times reported that Hope plans to appeal her firing and thanked the community for their support in a private Facebook post.

“I came and did a job I was proud of and wanted my community to be proud of me,” she wrote. “I loved my job and it filled my soul every day. I went to work hoping my decisions were in the best interest of kids and left knowing and hoping I did just that.”

Hope and Alik’s daughter, speaking at a School Committee meeting in June, said her parents volunteered their time to bring some students to Boston’s Hynes Convention Center for the Belle of the Ball, an invite-only event where girls can select a dress, make-up, clutches, necklaces, and shoes for their prom, free of charge.

Two girls were left behind, according to speakers at the meeting, when the group returned to Cape Cod. Arianna Roberts said her sister was “left hours away alone, no ride.”

Community members speak up again after field trip to Boston

Three community members spoke at a School Committee meeting last month against Hope’s termination, while Ahern did not specify the nature of Hope’s departure.

At the meeting, Nancy Thompson, of Hyannis, referenced a 2021 Boston Globe article to that featured Hope Taylor and her decision to move to Cape Cod to be one of the few educators of color for Barnstable’s diverse student body in 1995.

“She is revered. She is beloved. She brings forth a lot of things, and I think removing her is a very unkind act,” Thompson said.

Lynne A. Rhodes, president of the NAACP Cape Cod Branch, told the committee that Hope represented progress for the district. In Barnstable Public Schools, 92 percent of the staff are white, but 50 percent of the student body are students of color, according to state statistics.

“The decision to reprimand the educators on this one issue, where one person was terminated, contradicts the principles and the commitments for the diversity act,” Rhodes said.

Another speaker said Hope’s firing is a concerning trend, pointing to other unnamed firings of educators of color. Andre King, a committee member, said the Committee does not make decisions about personnel but emphasized that any decision about staff is in the best interest of students.

“Once a community makes a decision regarding personnel, those staff members have the right to appeal said decision to the state in an arbitration process. It takes time.” King said. “Decisions have been made, and there are further steps that are being taken to ensure that we in Barnstable are doing everything in our power to put student achievement at the forefront.”