A disgruntled Nantucket community member shocked the local school board committee when she handed them brownies she said were laced with laxatives. Meghan Perry, who has a yearslong adversarial history with the committee, appeared to have shared the brownies as a mischievous act of protest against a proposed artificial turf field.
Perry and others in the community are concerned about the testing standards for forever chemicals known as PFAS in the turf field. PFAS can interfere with hormones, cause developmental delays and increase cancer risks.
At a Nantucket School Committee meeting that was livestreamed on Tuesday, Perry handed her brownies to the committee and said, 'It's my understanding they have a non-detect level of Ex-Lax in them,' referring to a laxative brand. 'But I figured since we're okay with a non-detect level of PFAS, it would probably be okay,' she continued with a wry smile.
'Thanks,' one of the committee members replied sarcastically. Perry then thanked the committee for its efforts to improve the school district, adding: 'I think you guys are doing a lot of work, and I really appreciate it.'
The brownies seem to have been a metaphor for the PFAS detection threshold in the tests the school district has proposed to use on the turf field, although exactly which tests will be used is still being negotiated with the Nantucket Land and Water Council.
School Committee Chair Laura Gallagher Byrne was not amused. 'Because this incident occurred in a school setting and during a public meeting, we are reviewing our public comment practices and filing a police report, as advised by town leadership,' she told the Nantucket Current.
Perry told the outlet that the brownies were 'safe to eat,' but none of them were consumed as Superintendent Elizabeth Hallett threw them away at the end of the meeting. It is unclear whether any laws were broken, especially since Perry immediately disclosed that the brownies had laxatives in them and none were eaten.
Still, Byrne told the Nantucket Current she was 'shocked' by Perry's actions and said: 'Public comment is an opportunity to voice concerns in a manner that respects everyone in the room. It is not a place for displays that appear intended to provoke, ridicule, or diminish the dignity of the process or the people involved. It is unfortunate that this step is necessary, but the safety of the committee, staff, and community must be taken seriously,' she said in reference to filing a police report.
In response to concerns that the level of PFAS below test detection thresholds could still be harmful, Nantucket Public Schools has tried to assure community members that the tests are rigorous and effective. The artificial turf field is part of a broader $26 million renovation plan for an athletics field that had strong support at a town meeting and was approved by voters last month. It remains to be seen whether pushback from community members such as Perry will lead to more stringent PFAS testing or delay the negotiations between Nantucket Public Schools and the nonprofit Nantucket Land and Water Council, which have been close to an agreement.
