The December bombshell that Pittsfield High School dean of students Lavante Wiggins was facing federal charges of alleged high-scale cocaine trafficking triggered a torrent of other misconduct allegations against staffers at the school. Scandal erupted as claims flew unchecked around social media, prompting the launch of an independent investigation.
The school committee’s handling of the crisis has been much criticized by both community members and other elected officials in Pittsfield. As first reported by WAMC, chair Dr. William Cameron’s initial stance to only release the outcome of the investigation into the matter but not its complete findings stoked more outcry in March. Things intensified when the investigation’s original March 31st deadline came and went without a conclusion.
Of the staffers put on leave, at least one administrator has already returned to Pittsfield High School after being cleared by two investigations — much to the chagrin of some parents and students.
Last week, the Massachusetts Public Records Supervisor ordered the district to release a redacted version of the reports after an appeal from a local parent against the bid to withhold them.
At Wednesday’s meeting, she addressed the school committee directly.
“The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has already directed this district to release the investigative report regarding PHS," said Ciara Batory. "This is not a suggestion. This is not an option. You are legally required to release the report, yet, families affected and this entire community are still being denied the truth they deserve.”
Batory’s children are among the almost 4,900 students in the school district, Berkshire County’s largest.
“Withholding that report after a direct order from the state is not only unethical, it's unlawful," she continued. "Every day you delay, every excuse you give further destroys the public's trust in the school system. It does something else- It discredits the many teachers and staff who work hard every day to support and protect their students, who care deeply but are too afraid to speak out for fear of retaliation. Your silence sends a message that doing the right thing comes at a cost. Protecting the system is more important than protecting the people in it.”
While Cameron has argued that releasing the full reports will leave innocent people vulnerable to harassment, Batory said holding back information would worsen an already out of control situation.
“What happened at PHS is not just a single incident, but whether the people in charge believe students and families deserve honesty or whether damage control comes first," she told the committee. "You have a simple choice- Obey the law, honor the public, and release the report, or continue down the path of secrecy, obstruction and betrayal. Pittsfield families deserve to know what happened. Students deserve to know that their safety will never again be treated as a public relations problem, and teachers deserve to know that they are not alone when they are standing up for what is right. The community is watching. The state is watching. You still have a chance to do the right thing. Release the report. Stand with the students. Stand with the truth.”
For his part, Cameron announced that the firm conducting the investigation, Bulkley Richardson & Gelinas, had completed summaries of the reports.
“It seemed wiser to have impartial people who had actually done the investigations do the reports," he said. "I don't yet have possession of them, but they will be, I expect to have them by the end of the week.”
Cameron also responded to a communication from the Pittsfield city council, which spent the majority of its April 22nd meeting bitterly criticizing the school committee over the ongoing scandal.
“We've also received correspondence from the city council," said the committee chair. "The school committee authorized that these summaries be prepared on a motion that was made by the mayor on the 9th of April, and on the 22nd of April, the city council passed a resolution urging the school committee to do what it had voted to do on the 9th of April. And so, I'm simply reporting that we received a copy of that resolution from the city clerk.”
In February, Superintendent Joseph Curtis resigned abruptly effective June 30th after his leadership of the district over the course of the scandal was sharply criticized.
The committee is looking to fill Curtis’s role by July.
