The 11-member body confirmed its support for an independent inquest into the Pittsfield Public Schools currently being pursued by the city’s school committee on Monday.
The move comes after an escalating series of scandals emerging from a group of administrators at Pittsfield High School, the largest public high school in Berkshire County. The crisis began with the arrest of the dean of students on federal charges of alleged cocaine trafficking in mid-December, and has since expanded to multiple other staffers being put on administrative leave amid interrelated investigations of misconduct. The allegations include district employees having sexual relationships with students. The situation was exacerbated by news that a now retired English teacher faces a lawsuit alongside the district for the unchecked sexual harassment of students.
The city council meeting’s open mic portion was dramatic, with one Pittsfielder’s bigoted outbursts leading to a recess and a former Pittsfield High student speaking up.
“I faced relentless bullying from my peers, and one of the individuals implicated in these cases who was at that time the dean of students was placed in charge of my situation. I was never provided any support by the administration, including but not limited to any form of support for my diagnosed disability. I was victim blamed and intimidated into silence about the abuse I was facing by this administrator in meetings where they presented me with the threat of getting in more trouble if I continued to speak up about how I was being targeted," said Elliott Loverin of Dalton, who attended PHS from 2018 to 2020. “The effects of this experience on my mental health were undeniable, leaving my family with expensive bills for medical care and therapy, and me with lasting trauma. When COVID-19 ended my senior year early, I mainly felt relief that I would never again have to spend a day at PHS. I tell this story not to draw special attention to my case, but to point out that for every story like mine, there are dozens more. I would like to join the rest of Pittsfield in demanding consequences for not just the individuals against whom these allegations have been brought but the system that gave them power to protect future generations from having to suffer like I and so many others did.”
While some councilors preached unity amid the chaos, others were willing to be less delicate.
“I'm here for the kids, the families and the staff at the schools. I won't say I'm here for the school committee or for the administration, because I actually don't know what they should have done or didn't do, so I'm not ready to support them in this big overall umbrella of Kumbaya, 'we’re one Pittsfield,'" said Council Vice President Earl Persip. “What are we doing? We need to hold them accountable. The school committee has not listened to us when we talk about the culture problem, and it's upsetting to me and is ignored. I think the school committee needs to step up to the plate and stop being so cozy with the administration and do their job. It's your job to oversee the administration, make sure they're doing what they're doing. That's why you were elected. So yes, I am going to call them out. I am going to call the administration out. What are the hiring practices? What are we doing? We have a dean of students – many deans of students, because we've talked about it at budget hearings – we have a dean of students on a dance waiver? Come on, what are we doing? Enough is enough.”
Persip wasn’t the only councilor who took a sharper tone with the city schools.
“This is not a time for hesitation or deflection. These allegations have exposed what appears to be systemic administrative failures within our district, and as a community, we must demand that the school committee fulfills its responsibility to protect the interest of our students and of our families," said Ward 5 councilor Patrick Kavey. “The shocking allegations that have continued to come to light underscore the need for a thorough investigation, one that examines not just these allegations, but also the hiring practices, the handling of complaints, and the culture that may have allowed these issues to fester. A few years ago, we had a chance to start with fresh new leadership in our schools. Instead, the status quo prevailed, ignoring the public outcry for change- And I referred to the school committee's decision at that time as a failure, and I warned of the risks of continuing down the same path.”
When the school committee opted to elevate then-interim superintendent Joe Curtis to the permanent role in 2021, Kavey issued a press release excoriating the decision in no uncertain terms:
“Your decision will move Pittsfield backwards and be the reason we continue to see students and educators leave our district. We left the fate of our city’s youth in your hands. You failed us.”
The choice of Curtis over other candidates also led to the resignation of Berkshire County NAACP President Dennis Powell from the school committee. At the time, Powell decried the process as rigged in Curtis’s favor and said he was not the right leader to address inequity and racism within the school system.
Pittsfield’s school committee will hold its own special meeting Monday night to hire law firm Bulkley Richardson & Gelinas of Springfield to carry out the independent investigation into the district.
