New Student Ed Board Rep Elected

After a rough year of remote learning, Dwight teen Ma’shai Roman says New Haven schools need to do better with providing students with mental health help and resources.

Now she’s in a position to get that message directly to the people in charge.

Roman, 16, a student at the Engineering and Science University Magnet School (ESUMS), was chosen Friday afternoon as the newest student representative on the Board of Education. She is on a mission to bring a mental health hotline and seminars to New Haven schools.

While dealing with the academic year’s hybrid learning, Roman said, she began to struggle with school for the first time. Roman had always enjoyed school. For the first time ever, she would attend classes feeling unmotivated and uninterested.

“This year has been rough for many students, including myself” she said. ​“I knew I wasn’t the only one so I decided I’d speak for all of us.”

Roman struggled to keep up with classwork and fell behind several times. She also was dealing with adjusting to a new school. She transferred to ESUMS this year after attending Common Ground her freshman year. ​“I was falling apart,” she said.

For the next two years, Roman promised, she will provide a ​“honest student point of view” to the board about prioritizing student mental health. She will replace Lihame Arouna who was elected in 2019. 

Roman exceeded the 100 signatures needed to apply for the position in only a week. She got 144 signatures in total. Of those, 139 were validated. No one else ran, so Roman won the position without a vote needed. [Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that she has been sworn in. That will happen at a Board of Ed meeting.]

Along the way, Roman used social media to inform her peers of her running and why they should support her mission focused on mental health awareness. She was flooded with support online and even got suggestions from friends to voice to the board, she said.

Ideas from friends ranged from less homework to incorporating mental health exercises in classrooms.

Roman, a New Haven native, attended Wintergreen School in Hamden and Bailey Middle School for eighth grade. She has been playing the clarinet since the fourth grade, works at the Urban Air Trampoline and Adventure Park, is a member of the Evolutions After School Program at Peabody, and runs track for Hillhouse High School.

Student representatives to the Board of Education participate in deliberations but do not have voting power. The board will still ask Roman’s opinions and what would have been her vote in order to take that into consideration for each matter, said Assistant Superintendent Paul Whyte. She will also be tasked with giving reports to the board about students’ issues and work with a mentor on the board during her two-year term.

At her swearing-in at City Hall Friday, Mayor Justin Elicker reminded Roman to take on her role with a commitment to the underserved by ​“making sure the education system serves every single person in this city.”

“I think you know this, but it is incredibly important work,” Elicker said.

Roman’s grandmother, Terri Gatling, mom Stevona Harvey, younger brother River Harris, and Aunt Addys Castillo celebrated her at the ceremony Friday.

Prospect Hill/Newhallville Alder Kimberly Edwards reminded Roman to ​“have a big mouth, speak loud, speak clear.”