With a protest march from the high school to the police station that gathered 100-plus participants, SAFER in Branford introduced itself to the community on July 12.

The group’s full name, Students + Alumni for Equity & Racial Justice in Branford is made up largely of recent Branford High School (BHS) alumni. Members said on July 12 they are hoping to bring in more current students from the district in support of its goals.

The group, which has several goals for reform, grew out of discussions among supporters of an online petition calling for Branford’s Board of Education (BOE) to promote racial equity and diversity education in the town’s schools. As previously reported, the petition was started in June by Branford High School (BHS) Class of 2016 alumna Isabel Bysiewicz.

SAFER Branford now has several organizational leaders working on different areas of concern, according to its outreach information shared by SAFER. The growing coalition states it has more than 100 Branford Public Schools (BPS) alumni, current students, and faculty working to reform the BPS curriculum as one that’s more equitable and relevant pertaining to race, identity, and social justice. The coalition plans to bring statistics and testimonials as well as develop changes which will be brought to the BOE with the goal of working with the BOE to implement the changes.

The July 12 march included speeches outside the high school by some past and present students who shared personal stories of their experiences as BPS students who have been marginalized and/or bullied as well as some members of the march’s co-supporting group, Connecticut Against Brutality, with speakers representing similar protest actions in New Haven and West Haven. The discussion also included promoting ideas such as defunding police and using those funds to instead pay for the programs needed to support the reformed school curriculum.

Marchers walking in the streets from the high school to the police department sent home messages about fighting the system, supporting Black lives, and social justice, and defunding police with signs and chants, including “Black Lives Matter,” “No Justice No Peace,” “Hands Up Don’t Shoot,” and others.

Members of the BOE and the superintendent of schools have been invited to join the community participation at SAFER’s next public event, an online forum set for Sunday, July 19 at 3 p.m.  (Zoom information meeting posted at SAFER Branford Open Forum Facebook event page.)

The BOE and BPS district leaders look forward to listening to the dialogue at the July 19 forum, Branford Superintendent of School Hamlet Hernandez told Zip06/The Sound.

For more information on efforts in the district to date, see related story, “BOE/BPS Letter Discusses Addressing Social Justice in Schools."

For more information on SAFER in Branford, find the group online at Instagram.