Everett schools chief is placed on leave
Critics call panel’s move political
A majority of the Everett School Committee on Monday night voted to place the district’s superintendent on leave pending a human resources investigation — a move that came over objections from teachers and students and which opponents are criticizing as politically orchestrated.
The 7-to-3 vote effectively ends Superintendent Priya Tahiliani’s tenure as leader of the 6,800-student school district just north of Boston. The School Committee voted earlier this year against renewing her contract, which ends in March.
“Any investigation into these claims will reveal that I’ve been doing my job in holding [Everett Public Schools] staff accountable to our students, families, residents, and taxpayers for bad behaviors that should not be tolerated,” Tahiliani said at the meeting.
The vote came after committee members were presented with employee complaints, including allegations of a hostile work environment, from 10 unnamed individuals.
Committee member Marcony Almeida Barros, who voted against putting Tahiliani on leave, called the move a “shameful and a sad night for the Everett Public Schools.”
Members did not receive details of the allegations, nor the names and positions of the accusers, he said. Almeida Barros also questioned why the complaints were made to the city’s human resources department rather than the school district’s.
“It seems like an orchestration, a witch hunt,” he said. “The whole thing was a circus.”
Tahiliani has served as superintendent since 2020. She was the first person of color to lead the high-poverty district, where a majority of students are Latino.
Students attending the meeting held signs that read, “Keep Our Superintendent” and “Stop Silencing Students.” In addition to the student support, 50 teachers signed a letter backing Tahiliani.
Almeida Barros, the first Latino elected to the School Committee and its only current member of color, said Tahiliani’s unique understanding of the district’s students made her an effective leader.
“It’s beyond representation,” he said. “It’s results that she has provided.”
Antonio Amaya, executive director of La Comunidad Inc., an Everett nonprofit that advocates for Latino residents, agreed. Tahiliani has expanded summer programs, gotten more technology into students’ hands, and provided parents who don’t speak English with interpreters at parent-teacher conferences, he said.
“The School Committee is not foreseeing the damage they are causing to the student population in Everett,” Amaya said.
School Committee member Samantha Lambert, who voted against placing Tahiliani on leave, said she was not opposed to an investigation of the allegations. But she saw no need for Tahiliani’s urgent removal Monday night, especially because the allegations were a month old, Lambert said.
“An investigation is prudent,” she said. “However, allegations should also be substantiated before there’s impact to someone’s employment.”
At one point during the meeting, committee member Cynthia Sarnie asked for time in executive session to read the allegations presented. Chairman Michael Mangan denied her request. The Boston Globe has requested a copy of the allegations from the city of Everett under the state’s public records law.
In addressing the board, Tahiliani asked that two investigators be hired — one of her choosing and one selected by the School Committee. Members voted 7 to 3 to authorize the committee’s lawyer to immediately hire “an outside investigator,” who would not be currently employed by the district but could have previous ties to it.
Monday night’s vote follows more than a year of contentious relations between Tahiliani and members of the committee, including Mayor Carlo DeMaria of Everett, who has a seat on the 10-member panel.
In early March, the School Committee voted 6 to 4 against renewing Tahiliani’s contract. DeMaria was among those who opposed extending Tahiliani’s tenure. About 100 Everett High School students walked out of class in protest over the decision.
Two weeks later, Tahiliani and Deputy Superintendent Kim Tsai filed a lawsuit alleging racism, sexism, and retaliatory actions against DeMaria, the School Committee, and the city of Everett. The lawsuit came atop a 2022 complaint from Tahiliani accusing DeMaria of subjecting her to “blatant and overt acts of discrimination and retaliation.”
DeMaria wields political control over a “monopoly” of city government, including the City Council, planning and zoning boards, and, now, the School Committee, said Tony Raymond, 53, an MBTA bus driver and longtime Everett resident.
“The reason he didn’t like Priya is because she’s independent,” he said.
In a statement to the Globe, DeMaria said Tuesday his votes “reflect the importance of creating safe environments for employees to come forward with concerns after we learned from how prior issues within the Everett Public Schools were handled.”
“Conducting a thorough, fair, and impartial investigation is the only way to make sure that all parties involved have the ability to have their issues and concerns heard. Not doing an investigation would be repeating the same mistakes of the past by blindly siding with school leadership,” DeMaria said. “Most importantly, an investigation will send a message to employees that if they have the courage to come forward with their concerns, then we will show them the respect that they deserve to have those complaints reviewed.”
Tahiliani replaced former superintendent Frederick Foresteire, who had served in the position for nearly 30 years. Foresteire was accused of assaulting women who worked for him multiple times, and pleaded guilty to two counts of indecent assault and battery early this year.
“She brought professionalism and tried to get rid of the nepotism and favoritism that always existed in the district,” said Almeida Barros. “And that’s the result: She made enemies along the way.”
Several Massachusetts school superintendents attended Monday night’s meeting, an illustration of the high esteem Tahiliani’s colleagues across the state have for her, said Tom Scott, coexecutive director of the The Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents.
“I just think she’s one of best superintendents out there right now,” Scott said. “She will land on her feet. I just think it’s a travesty that the kids of Everett have lost someone as committed as she is.”
The School Committee will meet Thursday night to name an acting superintendent.
Priya Tahiliani received support from colleagues across the state.