Protesters respond to Delinda Dykes’s return to ARMS

On Tuesday, December 9, LGBTQ activists and allies showed up in full force to show their support for queer students and others affected by the return of middle school counselor Delinda Dykes to her job at ARMS in November of 2025.

Dykes was initially removed from her position at the middle school in May of 2023 following an article in The Graphic called  ‘It’s life or death’: failure to protect trans kids at ARMS a systemic problem and the results of a Title IX investigation which, according to Mass Live, said that  “Amherst-Pelham Regional Public Schools (ARPS) failed to effectively address claims of harassment and misconduct by middle school staff against LGBTQ+ students.” 

Dykes was alleged to have repeatedly and purposely misgendered trans students, mishandled bullying reports, brought religion and prayer into conversations with students and staff, and made inappropriate comments about gender and sexual orientation.

However, after losing her job, she took her termination to arbitration and won; the district was forced to reinstate her to her position by an arbitrator, Eileen Cenci, of Hyannis, in July of 2025. Cenci said that she did not think Dykes’s behavior met the standard for “conduct unbecoming a teacher.” 

Instead, Cenci noted that she believed Dykes “cared about the LGBTQ students assigned to her and worked to improve their school experience despite some misgendering and missteps in communication.”

Superintendent Xiomara Herman told The Graphic that while she “can’t interpret what the arbitrator was thinking,” that “we did not agree as a district with the arbitrator’s findings.” She filed an appeal on behalf of the district to try to undo the reinstatement, but on October 31, 2025, a judge ordered Dykes back to work.

I met with Activist Ali Wicks-Lim, who organized the action before and during the Amherst School Committee meeting on Dec 9. At the event, she and community members held signs that read “Gay Agenda: Protect Kids” and “YAY GAY” and wore t-shirts that read “Protect Trans Kids.”

They formed a walkway surrounded by illuminated rainbow umbrellas for those coming into the meeting, and once inside, gave free manicures, a nod to alleged comments by Dykes that nail polish was not acceptable for male staff members or indicated gender confusion.

Wicks-Lim helped form the LGBTQ+ caucus here in Amherst two and a half years ago. “The caucus was formed out of a need to have people organizing around the LGBTQ+ community’s needs, [especially] issues that had arisen when the first story about Delinda Dykes broke in The Graphic,” she said.

According to Wicks-Lim, there is an ongoing need to advocate for queer students and “to provide support and community” for them.

“We made a decision in the very beginning not to disclose who’s involved [in the caucus], who is our membership,” she said. “The reason for that was the fear of retaliation in a really hostile environment.” 

For her, the arbitration decision “was actually a predictable outcome,” given that multiple reports or complaints about Delinda Dykes were not processed or taken seriously by the previous administration or included as part of Dykes’s evaluations, which made her firing seem like it was unnecessary because her file was “clean.” However, Wicks-Lim noted she was just not being held accountable for known complaints or problematic actions “on paper.” 

“Due process was not followed,” said Wicks-Lim. The Graphic article also noted that Dykes was promoted to interim principal by Superintendent Michael Morris and Assistant Superintendent Doreen Cunningham when Principal Diego Sharon took a leave to support a family member for medical reasons. Human Resources approved, awarding her tenure or professional status after only one year, which is rare (most teachers or staff members must complete three years of employment).

According to Wicks-Lim, “Delinda Dykes hurt children’s feelings with her anti-LGBTQ actions,” and bringing prayer into counseling meetings with students was inappropriate.”

She also finds it strange Dykes would want to return to the site where so many people accused her of harm. “If you are a mental health professional, it would cause harm for you to come back to a community where you’ve hurt people,” she said.

The caucus had a purpose going into the meeting on Tuesday: to “show LGBTQ+ students they are not alone in the middle school but also that there are eyes, ears, and voices behind them,” said Wicks-Lim. This isn’t something that could just be let go, according to her.  “We also really wanted to express to the administration, the school committee, and the superintendent how important it feels to change the way we do things so that systematically we are not vulnerable to this happening again and again,” she said.

According to Superintendent Herman, the district did not have much choice in terms of how to respond. “We were ordered to return her to her employment. And so she is an employee.
She has all of the rights, responsibilities, and level of accountability as any employee,” Herman said. “It is now in the hands of the district to ensure that we enforce our rules, our district policies, for all employees.”

However, Herman acknowledged that she has received letters from parents asking their children to be excluded from interacting with or being counseled by Dykes, called “no contact directives.”

“My response was that the directive is noted,” she said. “They will be honored, and they have been honored.”