Everett board picks new leader for schools
But some raise objections to timing of the panel’s vote
EVERETT — Just weeks before several members are due to leave office, the city’s School Committee voted unanimously Wednesday night to offer Acting Superintendent William “Bill” Hart the job as the district’s permanent leader.
The vote came over the objections of community members who argued the search to replace recently ousted superintendent Priya Tahiliani has been politically motivated and lacked transparency.
Tahiliani, the district’s first superintendent of color, had been forced out of the position in October by Mayor Carlo DeMaria and his allies on the committee, community members say, after a rocky relationship with the mayor that saw her file claims of discrimination and retaliation. Those claims, including a federal lawsuit, are pending.
Despite opposition from some in the community, the committee moved forward during a special meeting Wednesday to interview the two finalists — Hart and Kimberly Fricker, who recently announced her intent to resign as superintendent of the Rim of the World Unified School District in Crestline, Calif. Both candidates answered questions from committee members and made their case for why they would be the best fit for the role. The committee voted 8-0, with two members absent, to enter contract negotiations with Hart.
Marcony Almeida Barros, who represents Ward 5 on the committee, was absent, but on Facebook expressed his support for delaying the vote until January. Samantha Lambert, who holds an at-large seat on the committee, attended the meeting but left before the vote after requesting the members be given
more time to review the candidates’ resumes and interview videos before making a decision. Her request was denied.
The vote was met with outrage by some community members who accuse the mayor of rushing the superintendent search in a last ditch effort to consolidate power on the School Committee, which has been roiled in controversy over the past year.
The School Committee appointed Hart as acting superintendent at the start of November, just days after voting to place Tahiliani on leave. Hart is also the chairman of the city’s board of assessors, previously spent 12 years as the vice president of Bunker Hill Community College, and worked as the chief executive officer of the Massachusetts Community Colleges Executive Office.
Despite several members expressing admiration for Fricker’s experience and credentials, the committee ultimately stuck with Hart.
“What I’ve seen over the past six weeks (from Hart) is a clarity, of a district that will represent everyone and will be welcoming to everyone, won’t get into the trenches of politics and won’t play ‘he said she said’ games, won’t allow those types of background noise to get in the way of doing the job,” said committee vice chair Michael McLaughlin, who represents Ward 6 but did not run for reelection.
The committee did not release the finalists’ names or resumes to the public when the meeting notice was first published on Monday. After critics said the omission violated the state’s open meeting law, an amended agenda released Wednesday identified the two finalists. The amended agenda complied with the law, a lawyer for the committee told the Globe.
Following Wednesday’s vote, the committee went into executive session to prepare a contract to offer Hart. Hart would need to accept the terms of the contract or come to an agreement with the School Committee on contract terms for the appointment to be official.
The balance of power on the committee is poised to shift dramatically in January, after voters in November overwhelmingly elected new school board members over candidates who DeMaria had endorsed, including three longtime incumbents. Only two of the mayor’s six favored candidates won. Meanwhile, all three sitting members who voted to renew Tahiliani’s contract, and against placing her on leave, won reelection.
In a public hearing during Monday’s School Committee meeting, critics of the mayor demanded the committee pause the superintendent search until the newly elected members are sworn in next month, out of concern the mayor and the old guard would fast track the process before losing power. The committee declined to take any action in response to their feedback.
Some residents criticized the committee’s decision to appoint a permanent leader before the new members take office in January.
Kathy McNeil, an Everett native who is now retired after teaching second and fifth grade in the district for 35 years, said she felt the entire process lacked transparency.
“The reason for the meeting tonight five days before Christmas, is because the mayor has lost most of his voting power on the School Committee. After January, he doesn’t have as many sheep to follow (him), so there’s been a rush to judgment,” said McNeil, who attended Wednesday’s meeting.
”If they had slowed down the process, and if they actually believed in the candidates, then they could have let the School Committee that comes in in January take over and run this as it should be, with public talks and public comment,” said Caitlin Steinberg, another lifelong city resident, who attended both committee meetings this week.
In an interview with the Globe following the vote, Mayor DeMaria pushed back against that criticism.
“I don’t think the process was rushed at all,” DeMaria said. “We brought a consultant in that helped us with the process. They had representatives of the community, representatives of the school community parents, on (the search) committee, they spent endless amount of hours interviewing candidates. The important thing is we had to fill the position.”
But November’s election results mean the mayor will go from having six allies on the 10member committee to only two. DeMaria has been a voting member of the committee since January 2021, when the City Council amended the city charter at his request to give him a seat on the board.
In all, five new committee members will be sworn in at the start of January. Only one, Joseph D’Onofrio, had the mayor’s endorsement. The other four — Joanna Garren, Robin Babcock, Margaret Cornelio, and Samantha Hurley — are mothers and a grandmother of current students in Everett Public Schools.
Addressing the committee on Wednesday, Hart acknowledged the current division in the community and emphasized he is the right person to take on the challenge.
”I know people are hurting, I know this community deserves more than what may be occurring, I want to be that conduit,” Hart said. “I want to be that person that you can rely upon as one of hopefully many voices in the community that are willing to sit and listen and act on those conversations, not to just give it lip service. … We may agree to disagree on many things, but you will always have a voice with me.”