An Essex Superior Court judge has denied a request from a former Marblehead Public Schools employee who sought to keep her two children enrolled in the district after her termination.
In a decision issued in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Kelley Ferretti v. Marblehead Public Schools, the court rejected Kelley Ferretti’s motion for a preliminary injunction, finding she did not meet the legal requirements for such relief.
Ferretti argued that her children were third-party beneficiaries of an employment agreement she made with the district in 2023. She claimed school officials orally promised her that her children could remain enrolled in Marblehead schools through high school graduation regardless of her job status.
The court found no evidence of that promise in writing. Ferretti’s offer letter, dated May 23, 2023, made no mention of her children’s enrollment. “It seems odd that such a central consideration in Ferretti’s decision…would not be documented somewhere,” the judge wrote, but noted that Massachusetts law generally bars nonresident students from enrolling unless authorized by statute or a school committee.
Ferretti also alleged that Marblehead officials unenrolled her children in retaliation for her whistleblower activities. The court rejected that claim, stating the Massachusetts Whistleblower Act protects employees from retaliatory employment actions, but the children’s unenrollment did not qualify.
While the court acknowledged that transferring schools can be disruptive, it ruled that Ferretti’s children will still have access to public education in their hometown. The judge noted Ferretti had been aware since January that her children would not be allowed to return to Marblehead schools this fall.
“The court feels for the Ferretti’s minor children. They find themselves in a terrible situation through no fault of their own,” the decision said. “Nevertheless, this court cannot be swayed by sympathy.”
The order denied the motion for a preliminary injunction, meaning Ferretti’s children must enroll outside of Marblehead for the 2025-26 school year.
