An act of protest, a fiery press conference, and numerous accusations are among the latest developments in Springfield’s search for a new superintendent of its public schools.
The process became contentious earlier this year, when the Springfield School Committee began to outline how it will replace outgoing Superintendent Daniel Warwick by late May.
Warwick announced plans to retire at the end of the school year in January, leading to the school committee forming a timeline and search protocols.
One piece of the original plan — the use of in-house legal counsel via the school district, instead of a law firm like the previous search — drew criticism from members of the public and school committee members in late February. Both demanded a more independent search.
An amendment swapping the in-house counsel for a law firm was then put forward by Vice Chair Joesiah Gonzalez and passed.
But just over a month later, issues boiled over again Thursday.
“Unfortunately, we’re unable to move the meeting forward - the majority of the school committee members have not shown up to the meeting,” said Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno as he ended up calling off the meeting. “Good evening and thank you for watching – good health and God bless.”
According to a press release sent by Gonzalez, the absences were part of an objection to how the mayor and the superintendent “violated the body’s policies and the laws on open governance by not placing items on the agenda requested by the majority of the body.”
The release claims that, based on public input, two agenda items were requested for the meeting – one to add a student to the screening committee that reviews superintendent applications, and another to “ensure that the screening committee be permitted to screen all superintendent applications.”
By its set deadline, the district received eleven completed applications for the superintendent role. Five were said to have met the minimum requirements and would advance to the screening process.
According to a previous release from Gonzalez, the screening committee, made up of various members of the community, voiced concerns about not being able to review all of the applications, rather than just the five the aforementioned law firm approved.
An attempt to have the agenda items added to the school committee’s Ad Hoc Committee failed, with the release claiming the Ad Hoc chair, Christopher Collins, “did not comply.”
Speaking with WAMC, Gonzalez says attempts to get the items on the full school committee agenda ran into further issues, including rejection from Warwick.
“He informed me, you know, ‘Thank you so much for sending those over, but both myself and the mayor disagree with you, therefore, we are going to proceed with the agenda that we've already crafted for Thursday.’ He said via a phone interview. “I then asked ‘Under what legal authority?’ He simply said, ‘Well, you consulted with me and we disagree.’”
Citing school committee policies, Gonzalez says as vice chair, he is required to consult with the superintendent when setting the agenda.
At a press conference called by the mayor Friday afternoon, Warwick said it’s the first time he had ever had a disagreement of this kind.
“We've never had an item in a subcommittee where the chair of that subcommittee is not the one pulling that item out with a recommendation for moving forward to school committee,” the superintendent said. “That didn't happen on this. Mr. Gonzalez was trying to unilaterally do that. I expressed that concern to him.”
Warwick also claims the Massachusetts Association of School Committees recommended not moving forward with what appeared to be the application review item - at least not until a legal opinion was formed since the item appeared “problematic.”
Also at the press conference was Collins, who added that when the application item was first brought up to him, he said the group would have to check with MASC executive director, Glenn Koocher. It was established earlier in the year that the MASC would assist the school committee with the superintendent search.
Collins says he contacted Koocher, who said he had just spoken to the vice chair.
“He told committee member Gonzalez that there were serious legal implications to one of the proposals that he put forward, and that you should not proceed until you have a review by your outside law firm,” Collins said.
Sharing his frustration with the committee’s actions on Thursday night as well as accusations leveled by Gonzalez, Sarno did not mince words.
“I'm sick and tired - I'm going to say it right now - I'm sick and tired of this bull----,” the mayor said.
Calling Gonzalez “the ringleader” of the latest developments, Sarno accused the vice chair of perpetuating “misinformation and misnomers.”
He also said Gonzalez and other members were attempting to advocate for candidates who did not meet the minimum requirements.
“The vice chair, Joesiah Gonzalez, and other school committee members are pushing for their own preferred candidates who did not make the cut,” Sarno said.
In response, Gonzalez called the accusation a “low attack,” and suggested the real issue is that with four committee members likely in favor of the blocked agenda items, the mayor and others do not have the votes to proceed with the search as originally planned.
“I think the low attacks, calling out ringleaders, the low attacks suggesting that myself and perhaps others are colluding with applicants - it goes to show that this has really struck a nerve with city hall administration and with - the limited nature of his power as mayor," he said.
Collins says the Ad Hoc Committee will meet Wednesday and likely vote on an item to allow two spots on the screening committee for students. Once approved, that item would then move to the full school committee for a vote.
One spot had originally been open on the 13-member body, but was given to a non-student once the committee found no students had applied earlier in the year.
The language in the current agenda for Wednesday’s meeting states the two students would come from the Springfield Public Schools’ Student Advisory Council.
Also during the press conference, Collins pointed out that the current search echoes the one from twelve years ago - specifically, that after vetting applications against the minimum requirements, six candidates emerged.
