An exception in the district’s weapons policy that allows some Sikh students to don kirpans — sheathed blades worn as part of a religious requirement — was challenged by several out-of-town speakers during Thursday’s School Committee meeting.
Although the policy states the curved blade must be dull and no longer than 3 inches, and the kirpan must be worn under clothing and never drawn in school or at a school-related function (including transportation), Sikh families can seek an exemption to keep it sharp, noted Jason Alfred, one of the individuals talking about his concerns.
District policy does allow requests for exemptions but notes that the building principal will base their decision “on student safety for all.”
Alfred, who is an Attleboro resident and, like at least three of Thursday’s four public comment speakers, is part of an organization that has been speaking about issues at various school committees in the region, said the policy inclusion “crosses a line that should never be crossed” when it comes to the safety of students.
“At what point does the safety of the children inside our schools come before religious exemption?” he asked. “I mean, enough is enough.”
Speaker Andrew Kerr — who according to news reports has had a longstanding dispute with Attleboro school and city officials that has continued even after he relocated from Attleboro to Florida — said it is a matter of “consistency and fairness” in the policy. He said the allowance addresses the faith practices of 50-100 Sikh children and opens a “Pandora’s box.”
This policy creates a situation where the same consideration must be granted to people of other faiths, Kerr said, otherwise it is religious discrimination.
Kerr said there are 2,200 Catholic school-age students in Hopkinton, and some could seek to carry holy lances (small symbolic blades).
Kerr said, “You cannot open the door for one faith and slam it shut on another. That’s textbook unequal treatment under the Constitution.”
He said that even if only a fraction of families requested a religious blade be allowed, the consequences could be “hundreds of students carrying knives” in schools.
Joey Ford, who identified himself as the founder and leader of a school watchdog group, said it was “outrageous,” to allow any type of weapon into schools. He asked what would happen if a Sikh student with autism had to be restrained and if that would require an entirely different procedure. Or, Ford asked, what would occur if a Sikh student got in a fight and “the weapon was drawn.”
He asked, “How can we think of these more one-off cases and still make sure everybody is kept safe?”
Ford deemed the policy “very dangerous,” adding, “I don’t think this policy was well thought through. I think it was just brought in in an effort to bring some type of equity into the situation.”
Speaker Alexis Henderson, who indicated only that she was from Massachusetts, said that she understood the kirpan symbolizes peace and she is not arguing anyone’s “deeply held beliefs, but she cautioned, “Children don’t always make the best choices, and I would hate to see something that we understand can be potentially dangerous to become dangerous.”
She added, “Anywhere there is a weapon, there is an underlying threat of danger.”
Ford also said he heard that an art teacher in the district wants to “use some different pronouns.” He said while “we shouldn’t discriminate against these people whatsoever; she should be able to get a job,” to “compel students to use mixed pronouns is a violation of our first amendment; it goes completely against our values in this country, and I would advise strictly against doing this.”
School Committee member Nancy Cavanaugh noted that the committee could not answer any questions raised during the public comment period because the speakers were talking about items that were not on the meeting agenda to be addressed.
She added that committee members “hear and appreciate” participation by the public, including those from out of town.
What kind of loser goes to a school committee meeting in a town where they don’t even live?
And this Ford individual doesn’t seem very intelligent. It is not an attack on American values for a teacher to have the freedom to disclose their gender to their students. If this fool is against the first amendment, then he’s not worth listening to and hopefully the school committee will ignore him entirely.
Hello, Andrew Kerr here. I want to be clear: I fundamentally believe no knives or weapons of any kind should ever be allowed in schools. With the violence and risks already present, we need to eliminate every additional opportunity for tragedy. That said, once the district granted a religious exemption for the kirpan, it opened a Pandora’s box. This is now a religious liberties issue. You can’t simply take it back without violating the Constitution. Knives are now allowed in schools, and they’ll stay allowed. This is dangerous. In England, a Sikh individual used a kirpan to stab 18-year-old Henry Nowak to death, then told police the victim had been racist. The police immediately sided with the aggressor. We cannot let something like that happen here. If this exemption stands, Catholics should exercise the same religious liberty and seek permission to carry the Holy Lance—a small, symbolic blade with deep sacramental meaning in our tradition. Equal treatment under the law cuts both ways.
You are the exact voice that Hopkinton needs!
Let’s make sure that all weapons are banned within Hopkinton!
Repeal the 2nd! Supported by Andrew Kerr, who fundamentally believes in the abolition of all weapons!
Andrew Kerr, peacemaker from Attleboro!
If you couldn’t tell, im against weapons in “Schools” not in general. Actually because of the boards Decision, weapons cant be stripped away. If you cant remove them, then the only logical answer is more weapons. This is a “Reap what you Sew” type thing.
Do you Reap garments when you Sew?
Could it be because this isn’t about the fact that it’s a weapon, but that it’s others who are not you?
You know what that makes you?
Not welcome here.
Agreed. Why is someone who so clearly has nothing to do with Hopkinton even allowed to take time up here? Comparing it to a Catholic lance, which as a Catholic I have never heard of, just shows his ignorance. .
First amendment right doesn’t end at the town border, fascist.
Following your logic, then, school committees are subject to the whims of nonresidents any time they want to show up and speak, no matter the topic, no matter the time wasted for actual local residents. That’s ridiculous. Putting limits on who can speak and restricting it to actual constituents isn’t fascism.
No one should be allowed to have a knife in a school. The fact that you have never heard of something doesn’t take away from it. You admitting to this does take away from your intelligence though.
You digging up something so outside the norm shows that you don’t really have a good argument. And seriously, you don’t have other things to do than waste our time?
With all due respect Lynn you’re coming across as a dullard. Not sure if you’re pretending to be one or if you genuinely are one but I think it’s important that I point that out to you.
These are astroturfed far right radicals funded by dark money to stir up trouble.
100% true. Is it possible to change the committee’s public comment period to at least only allow remarks from people who live in the district?
What is “dark money” that you speak of and more importantly how do we get some? I’ll take dark money, light money, and human monies.
Cope harder beta boy
This is the way. We need to be vocal against woke.
We need to be vocal against ‘woke’… hmm. Complex social issues rarely have a single, dogmatic ‘way.’ Who is the ‘we’ you are calling to action here?
‘Woke’ has become a politically weaponized catch-all term. Originally meaning to stay alert to systemic racial prejudice, it has been co-opted as a pejorative to represent anything a particular speaker dislikes. It is intellectually lazy to attack a buzzword instead of making an actual argument.
The actual issue here is far more nuanced. We are navigating the balance between school safety policies and fundamental First Amendment religious freedoms. Accommodating religious expression is a core American value, not a political trend. Dismissing a legitimate community discussion as ‘woke’ shuts down the thoughtful dialogue we need to actually figure this out.
The actual issue is far more nuanced.
As a Hopkinton resident I’m deeply saddened by these out of town activists coming and intimidating our Sikh neighbors. We should be open and inclusive in our schools and I am highly supportive of this religious observance being allowed. The fear-mongering that is happening is absolutely ridiculous. Anyone can dig up a murder involving any object if they are looking to similarly cause fear. One child has died from a pencil injury in the past 25 years according to the NIH… should we be banning pencils in schools?? And let’s not forget the horrible tragedy in Wayland this summer… quick, cut down all trees from the school campus!!!
I really hope our Sikh neighbors know that there are many respecful Hopkinton residents who don’t agree with these quacks.
To be clear or summarizeyour points, if a Sikh person wants to have a knife in School, its OK because of Religion. When I make the exact same point about Catholics. Now its fear mongering and also not OK? Did you look at the Vote? 98 people say no knifes compared to 20 yes votes. The people of Hopkinton are speaking and they are agreeing with me.
Andrew Kerr was arrested in January 2014 “at his home for suspicion of domestic assault and battery, intimidating a witness and assault with a dangerous weapon”. I think he just projects that everyone is as dangerous and violent as he was at that age.
Source: https://patch.com/massachusetts/attleboro/assault-and-battery-with-a-dangerous-weapon-open-container-and-shoplifting
You say you are “highly supportive of this religious observance being allowed,”. Ok, so the Catholic Church teaches that God created humans as either male of female. Would you be supportive of a student refusing to use the honorific “Mx” of a teacher on religious grounds? Just curious.
Jesus said “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself”. Why are you always so hateful?
Andrew Kerr seems real swell:
Jan. 8
2 p.m. Andrew Kerr, 18, of 31 Chapel Hill Ln. was arrested at his home for suspicion of domestic assault and battery, intimidating a witness and assault with a dangerous weapon.
https://patch.com/massachusetts/attleboro/assault-and-battery-with-a-dangerous-weapon-open-container-and-shoplifting
For sure, let’s take his advice. Andrew, worry about your own issues and your own district. Thanks.
While I was at Hopkinton, a student was hit over the head with a water bottle hard enough to suffer a concussion. It was a non-religiously motivated act of violence, yet there was no comparable outrage over water bottles because we understand that almost any everyday object can be misused.
That is why the focus here feels misplaced. A dulled, sheathed, concealed kirpan is being treated as the problem rather than the violent behavior itself. Andrew Kerr’s “Holy Lance” comparison is also a false equivalence: Catholics are not religiously required to carry one, while the kirpan is an established Sikh article of faith.
If the concern is school safety, focus on actual violent behavior, not a regulated religious article that has not been shown to be causing it.
The comparison of the mandatory Sikh kirpan to a Catholic lance shows the ignorance of the principles of the constitutional law, the Free Exercise Clause, and religious doctrines.
According to the law, including the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the jurisprudence of the First Amendment, religious accommodation requires an individual’s sincere belief that a certain practice is a mandatory component of their faith. The Kirpan belongs to the five articles of faith (also known as 5 Ks) which must be worn by all initiated Sikhs at all times. On the other hand, there is no Catholic doctrine prescribing students to wear holy lances. It would be unreasonable to imagine an object just to test the policies of schools.
There are also federal precedents confirming the rightness of reasonable accommodations of kirpans. Thus, according to the decision of the federal appeals court in Cheema v. Thompson (9th Cir. 1994), the school districts cannot adopt absolute bans on kirpans when there are less restrictive means of ensuring the safety of students, such as dull blade of the weapon of a certain size, kept in a sheath.
There is no Pandora’s box opened in the district’s policy. It is based on the accepted legal requirements. Banning a mandatory article of faith when safety measures exist is a violation of the rights of people protected by the federal laws, but refusing from granting a non-existent request is quite reasonable.
Thank you, I was about to post a similar, but less well written comment!
The issue with your logic is that If I have a “Deeply Held Belief that I Need to carry the Holy Lance” then who are you or quite frankly the government, to tell me that I don’t believe this? The law protects my beliefs, simply because its not mandatory to carry doesn’t neglect from its importance in my own mind, which is what the government and the First Amendment Protect.
You believe simply thay because a long time ago someone said you needed to carry a knife, seems to matter more than what I belief in or how Catholics or Myself choose to Exercise or Beliefs. You need to do more research on how our Civil Rights work, you believe its very one sided and thats not true.
The issue with your logic is that If I have a “desire to use ‘they/them pronouns’” then who are you or quite frankly the government, to tell me that I don’t believe this? The law protects my beliefs… which is what the government and the First Amendment Protect.
You believe simply thay because a long time ago someone said that there are only two genders, seems to matter more than what I believe in or how Progressives or Myself choose to Exercise our Beliefs. You need to do more research on how our Civil Rights work, you believe its very one sided and that’s not true.
News flash Owen there are ONLY 2 GENDERS. Time to join the real world, fantasy time is over. People will never take you serious when you keep talking like you do.
Why would I object to you using they, then pronouns? Yes I might think you are a tool or a loser for doing so, but that doesn’t matter. However you people love to push that stuff on us, you try and force us to call you certain names, you come into the bathrooms with our children that I won’t accept.
See when a Liberal has no good argument they just start talking about anything and everything else. If you want to be a woman Owne you are more then welcome to do so. You can be a weirdo all you like in the privacy of your own home. In public though, I will still call you sir though, because I wont let you force me to deal with your delusions
Andy: You just wrote a couple of angry paragraphs to prove how little you care, invented imaginary bathroom scenarios to work yourself up, and still couldn’t manage basic grammar. Nobody is forcing you to do anything; basic decency is simply a standard most adults manage without throwing a public tantrum. If someone else existing peacefully makes you feel this threatened, the fragility is entirely your own. Save the lecture, fix your spelling, and have the day you deserve.
It’s nice, in general, to see that you have changed your ways and, having been arrested for assault with a dangerous weapon against someone in your own family, you are now committing your life to issues of personal safety. The system works.
That said, someone who seems to be all about American rights, like the time you tried to sue the City of Attleboro by pretending that you have a disability (sorry about the outcome of the case, Andrew), and by regularly invoking the fourth amendment so you can call in to school committee meetings in towns that are thousands of miles from where you live, I’m actually surprised at how little you care about the first amendment, saying that teachers aren’t allowed to ask students to call them by their own preferred name.
No, no, wait, that’s not fair. You don’t mind surely if a teacher with a difficult last name asks to be called “Miss W” or if a teacher prefers to be called by their first name. You are only anti-1st amendment when it comes to pronouns and transgender people who ask to be called, to quote your strange way of putting it, “certain names.” But you have to admit – there’s something really stupid, really hypocritical, about saying that you have the right to have people call you “Andy” for instance, or “Andrew,” but you don’t have the right to ask to be called “Andie.”
I know you’re just trying to stir up hatred, but pretend that you have deep convictions about American rights when you really don’t. It is impossible to believe you when you claim to be in favor of people’s rights, like you pretended to be when you came up short in your lawsuit against Attleboro, when you are out here trying to curtail people’s freedoms.
Nobody likes a hypocrite, Andy.
Careful! Your pretty 1488 tattoo is peeping out.
Serious question for Andy. Andy how long have you been Gay?
Andrew, the First Amendment does not protect the fabricated claims that were invented solely for testing of a policy. In the First Amendment cases evaluated by courts through the tests such as Seeger case and Yoder case, courts determine whether a claimed belief qualifies as a sincerely-held religious exercise that has a basis in an existing tradition or a mere personal preference or philosophy constructed for the purpose of argument.
Also, in the famous case Employment Division v. Smith and strict scrutiny test under RFRA, governmental accommodation weighs the sincerity and centrality of the religious duty against public safety. Wearing a Kirpan is a documented, centuries-old, mandatory practice for millions of initiated Sikhs around the world.
The entire discussion is ridiculous. Why do we in Hopkinton always feel the need to do things the hard way? Adopt the White House policy – Koran’s must be symbolic medallions less than 2” in size worn on a chain around the neck or a full sized, sharpened kirpan must be welded shut by glue or metal weld so as to make it un-drawable as a weapon. It must be pre-registered and it must be inspected to ensure the weld is still intact. Simple and meets all requirements allowing it to be no more dangerous than the examples of a pen, water bottle, etc.
Some of the people in this comment section should be embarrassed.
There is more anger being directed at the people who took the time to speak about the safety of Hopkinton’s children than there is discussion about the policy itself.
And here is the part that needs to be said plainly:
None of you spoke.
Not one of the people attacking these speakers in this comment section took the time to call in and make your case.
Yet now there is no shortage of criticism for the people who actually did.
Advocating for the safety of children does not stop at a city line, a town line, or a state line. If someone sees an issue involving children and believes it deserves public attention, they have every right to speak.
So don’t be angry at them because they live somewhere else.
Be angry at yourselves for not having the courage to speak up when you had the opportunity.
If you supported the policy, you could have called in and defended it.
If you disagreed with the concerns being raised, you could have said so publicly.
If you believed these speakers were wrong, you could have made that argument.
But you didn’t.
Instead, people from outside Hopkinton took time out of their own day to advocate for your children, and now some of you are attacking them for it.
That is backwards.
You should not be asking, “Why were outsiders speaking?”
You should be asking:
“Why did outsiders care enough to speak when we remained silent?”
Quite frankly, if people from other communities are willing to stand up for the safety of Hopkinton’s children, they deserve more respect than the people sitting comfortably behind a keyboard attacking them after the fact.
Stop attacking the people who spoke.
Start explaining why you didn’t.
This entire argument is disingenuous. Arguing that students shouldn’t be allowed to carry the kirpan isn’t a discussion of safety. I would think that all of us are in favor of safety in the schools. I have children in these schools, and I happen to think they’re extremely safe. I trust that the administrators are doing a good job and that this decision was not taken lightly in the first place. I’m sure there’s always room for improvement, but again, this argument isn’t about school safety at its core, and that’s the part that has me jumping in. So yeah, people with questionable backgrounds from out of town coming to tell us that a policy is no good isn’t them jumping in to protect our children.
We don’t need the shady advocates in our town. Bye Bye Bye.
Is this Monica Cannon-Grant?
No, it’s one of the Fogg’s or her cohort.
Hate to rain on your parade but Fogg has publicly supported the policy allowing Kirpans in school.
This comment is misleading and unfair to the people of Hopkinton who have already engaged with this issue in good faith. The kirpan policy has been discussed publicly by the School Committee as far back as 2024 and before, debated within the community, and even examined academically in Hopkinton’s own AP Government classes through the lens of constitutional law and religious accommodation.
So framing this as “outsiders cared while Hopkinton stayed silent” is simply not accurate. It also avoids the actual question: what evidence is there that Sikh students responsibly carrying a regulated, sheathed and dulled article of faith are creating a safety problem?
If the answer is none, then repeatedly portraying the kirpan as a threat does not make the argument stronger. It risks turning a policy discussion into fear directed at a minority faith. People are right to push back on that, and doing so does not mean they care any less about student safety.
I agree with The Advocates! We don’t do enough to protect our children and need to do better as a community. Let’s be honest most of us are afraid to speak up publicly in fear that someone else might not agree with our views. It’s easier to avoid conflict by using a keyboard in the privacy of our homes and pretend to truly believe in what we post in comment sections. We act like bullies to compensate for our insecurities. Once again thank you The Advocates.
Sincerely,
Hopkinton Resident
Is this you, Fogg?
Thank You very much for taking the time to objectively look at this. I commend you for this!
Best Regards,
Andrew Kerr
Maybe because no one else is thick enough to think that we need to discuss this?
Do we argue that students shouldn’t have shoelaces? They could strangle others with it!
Belts are even more dangerous!
It’s a racist attack because you, Mrs Advocate, are xenophobic and want to demonize others.
Go away. No one wants you here.
Imagine writing this reply and submitting it for everyone to see how much of a dullard you are. Lol
Danhausen, you keep calling people dullards while missing the point. 😂
Is the word “dullard” triggering to you?😆😂😵💫😵💫😵💫
Allow the kirpan as the White House does, a necklace sized medallion or if as some demand it must be full sized or sharpened, it should be welded shut and registered subject to inspection to ensure the weld is in place. It satisfies religious requirements and safety requirements.
Andrew Kerr has a history of this crap; trying to waste taxpayer money when he doesn’t get his way.
Kerr operates by weaponizing the very legal and administrative frameworks designed to protect vulnerable citizens, turning mechanisms of accountability into instruments of paralysis. His operational methodology can be categorized loosely like:
The Transparency Trap: By utilizing the Massachusetts Public Records Law, he attempts to crush municipal clerks and IT departments under impossible data retrieval requests. Even when he loses in Superior Court, he succeeds in forcing the city to expend massive amounts of time and legal fees.
The Civility Void: By exploiting the First Amendment protections forcefully reaffirmed in the SJC’s Barron v. Kolenda decision, he converts open public comment periods into platforms for targeted psychological and professional abuse against civic volunteers. This forces local governments to shut down public forums entirely to escape the harassment, isolating the government from the public.
The Litigation Tax: By filing sequential, pro se, in forma pauperis lawsuits under Title II of the ADA, he ensures that his legal adventurism costs him absolutely nothing. Simultaneously, he forces the target municipality to pay defense counsel to respond to frivolous Rule 37 sanction demands, despite his repeated failure to meet basic federal pleading standards regarding causality.
The Constitutional Wedge: By invoking the Equal Protection Clause and inventing bad-faith hypotheticals like the Catholic “Holy Lance,” he attempts to paralyze school boards that are attempting to legally navigate complex RFRA mandates (Cheema v. Thompson) regarding minority religious accommodations.
General advice:
Local governments, city councils, and school boards targeted by Kerr and his localized network of associates cannot rely on standard appeals to decorum, logic, or civic duty to manage these disruptions. The jurisprudence of Massachusetts, particularly following Barron v. Kolenda, severely limits the ability of a government body to silence disrespectful or abusive speech in an open forum.
Therefore, municipalities must adopt highly rigorous, emotionless structural defenses. Public comment periods must be tightly regulated by unyielding, content-neutral time limits. Public hearings must be strictly restricted to the specific topic on the agenda, aggressively utilizing the “limited public forum” doctrine to immediately mute off-topic grievances. Public records requests must be aggressively countered with strict statutory definitions of “reasonable description” and the legal boundaries of “custody and control” regarding private devices. Finally, municipal legal counsel must be prepared to seek swift, decisive dismissals with prejudice in federal court, and actively explore filing injunctions against vexatious litigation to protect the financial and operational integrity of the local government against individuals committed to its disruption.
See also:
Kerr v. City of Attleboro (1:23-cv-13045-NMG)
Dismissed with prejudice under FRCP 12(b)(6) on Nov 20, 2024. Plaintiff repeatedly failed to establish a qualifying disability or a causal link to the exclusion.
Kerr v. City of Attleboro et al (1:25-cv-12926)
Active procedural disputes. Plaintiff’s motions for Rule 37 sanctions and free copies denied. Plaintiff ordered to seek Rule 4(d) service waivers or face dismissal.
Hey dullard. Doxxing someone because you don’t agree with them is not the flex you think it is. I don’t know who you or Andrew is but you are crashing out in real time because of a difference of opinion. If it’s your intention to make yourself look like an @ssh$&3 then you’ve succeeded and by doing so have lost any credibility with people like me and many others.
Hey Mr. John, this is what happens when one speaks truth to power. I could care less about their childish antics. There is no reason to respond at all. See I speak out agaisnt the Government not the people, honestly never the people.
When I speak out about what I believe, in Massachusetts this is the response. Doxing or attempts at the least, fabrication of events and facts. What I realize is that when I “Strike a nerve” I know its time to triple down. That there is something that is being hidden.
I appreciate your ability Mr. John to see through this. I commend your statement about decency. Public servants and elected officials work for the people. I commend good Public servants and call out the bad ones. In doing so I have become a target many times. This is what it is in Massachusetts when you speak truth to power.
Wow, I struck a nerve.
This is hardly doxxing, I was a simple Google search on someone posting with their full name. Someone posting things that most residents of a town they don’t even live in disagree with. Someone with a history of wasting taxpayer money. 🤷♂️
It’s the Paradox of Tolerance in civil participation.
The government must allow this sort of insanity because, if they didn’t, they could shut down legitimate individuals. If we put up barriers to participation, it feels into the restrictions of liberties the fascist thrives under.
It’s why I advocate active resistance forms of civil participation which call out this behavior. Point out the agreements. Make them angry and paint the target at the movement and play with the children while the adults govern.
It’s always fun to play pretend. We entertain, we laugh, we make the children feel special. That’s what they want: to be the pretty special snowflakes they never will be.
Just sad and pathetic snowflakes who have no friends.
One might shed a tear, if they weren’t filled with bile and sick.
I encourage you to speak at the next meeting, as we will be returning to speak…and again…and again. I look forward to speaking about the actions and attitude of your comments and how there is clearly an intolerance problem with some of the residents when it comes to public participation at the school committee.
We will just laugh at you crashing losers. LOLZ
Not to late to delete your nonsensical comment
Imagine writing this reply and submitting it for everyone to see how much of a dullard you are. Lol
Matt won’t be there. His mother needs him to bathe her with liberal tears. 😂 Don’t worry Matt we will be there in-person to help the citizens of Hopkinton. We know what’s best for Hopkinton.
I will be with your mother that night. LOLZ
Be there with bells on. 😉
We’ll all look forward to your inane nonsensical ramblings.
A good time for all!