The community has yet to heal from being shut out during former Superintendent John Buckey’s surprise departure from the district. Conflict involving student censorship has engulfed the town. There has been intense outcry and pushback from educators who have told stories of being physically harmed while attempting to deal with dysregulated students in classrooms with limited resources, all while being ignored and told to just teach.
And now, there are seven vacancies between the district, school administration, and the School Committee.
The biggest one involves interim Superintendent Theresa McGuinness, who, despite originally expressing interest during her interview, will not pursue the permanent position.
Marblehead has just begun the process for a permanent superintendent search, however the district is already well behind others that have been proactive, despite Chair Sarah Fox stating at a Jan. 4 meeting that “the applicant pool is different than it was previously and if anybody is paying attention, there’s a lot of commonality of what you see in different districts.”
In Melrose, finalists for the district’s superintendent position were announced in early November. Among the finalists for that position was John Buckey. Other districts, such as Norton and Groton-Dunstable, had plans in place to have finalists named by the end of January.
With Marblehead’s timeline lagging behind other communities, it could affect the quality and number of candidates that apply for the position.
So, if the School Committee and district continue in this direction, what could come of education in Marblehead? The future remains cloudy, but what is clear is that distractions and holes in pivotal administrative positions could have an effect on the school system’s finances and education down the line.
Currently, there are three vacancies or soon-to-be vacancies at the district level. On Jan. 1, the director and associate director of student services resigned from their posts. Later that week, Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations Michelle Cresta announced that she will be resigning, effective in March, to accept a similar position in the Manchester Essex Regional School District.
Glover School Principal Hope Duran resigned after taking sick leave. Taking her place in the interim will be Assistant Superintendent of Marblehead High School Dan Richards. The committee and McGuinness will now also have to find an interim replacement for Richards at the high school.
Even the School Committee itself hasn’t been able to avoid the recent wave of resignations, with member Meagan Taylor leaving the committee on Jan. 8.
The scramble to fill and pay detailed attention to each of the vacancies also happens to be taking place during the heat of the town’s budget season. Budget books have been handed out to committee members and administrators, but naturally, the pressure to fill the positions could become a distraction to budget procedures for fiscal year 2025.
The transparency narrative surrounding the committee, specifically budget transparency, has already played a role in previous attempts at an override failing in 2023, when the school district’s budget was presented with that of the town, and in 2022, when the district presented an override on its own.
The override failing at last year’s election forced the district to cut 33 positions from its FY24 budget. With no override expected to be presented this year, Cresta emphasized that the schools will need to cut roughly $2 million from the FY25 budget, which will result in even more position cuts than last year.
Even if one is presented in the future, it has been made clear by the voters through previous election results that they will not support an override until they feel the committee is fully transparent and fiscally responsible.
A lack of funding, or support for it, can, and has already begun to lead to less resources being provided to students and teachers, which in turn, can affect student performance in the district.
According to the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, Marblehead’s 2023 Accountability Report shows that it has a score of 75%, which equates to meeting or exceeding targets. That means that the district does not currently require assistance or intervention from the state.
According to the Department of Education’s website, “the ability of the state to intervene in a regional school district budget is authorized by law and regulations that provide the state with incrementally more oversight in response to a regional school district’s increasing fiscal vulnerability.”
As stated, Marblehead Public Schools is not at that point. However, if the district cannot retain a superintendent to implement a long-term plan, cuts to budgets continue to be made year after year, and the turnover and vacancy trends in the administration continue, it is not far-fetched to say that Marblehead Public Schools could find itself in that position.
Some around town, however, aren’t waiting for that to come to fruition.
Recently, momentum has been gaining in town regarding the accountability of elected officials in town. A citizen petition to place an article on the 2024 Town Meeting warrant has been submitted that seeks to add recall provisions for any and all elected town officials.
The petition also seeks to “authorize the Select Board to submit a home rule petition to the legislature for the acceptance of said recall provisions; or take any other action relative thereto.”
The article, submitted by Daniel Donato, states that “an initial recall affidavit (notice of intent to recall) signed by at least 50 registered voters of the town containing voters’ names and addresses may be filed with the town clerk. The initial recall affidavit shall contain the name of the officer sought to be recalled, the office sought to be recalled, and a statement of the grounds for recall.”
The town of Marblehead does not currently have recall provisions in place. In an interview, Donato explained that while the petition was submitted with no specific departments in mind, he thinks it’s important for a recall procedure to exist.
“If Marblehead voters did elect an official, then they found out that person, let’s say, didn’t disclose important information prior to the election, they might want to have a mechanism in place that would allow them to find a better path forward,” Donato said.
The petition received enough signatures to have the article appear on the Town Meeting warrant, and if passed at Town Meeting, that recall mechanism would be available to the residents of Marblehead.