The town of Saugus is at it again. Nothing, it seems, is easy over there. Not even the hiring of an athletic director to replace the departed Mike Nelson.
This shouldn’t be the project it’s become. And the back-and-forth bickering between members of the school committee — which really isn’t supposed to be involved in this at all — makes you wonder whether there’s an adult in the room; and whether the ones play-acting at it are for the children or are the children.
Seriously, why can’t the town form a committee, meet, conduct interviews and come up with a candidate to present to the superintendent, and do so in a timely manner?
Before the school year ended in June, two area ADs announced they were moving on: Phil Sheridan of Peabody and Nelson. Peabody filled its position with minimal fanfare, and Bobby Bua has been working all summer long to ensure an easy transition.
Saugus? Different story. Like much of what has happened over there in the last two years, this has become a public spectacle. And it’s been a fiasco from the get-go. The job was originally posted as a full-time position. Then, last week, the town realized that Nelson had been doing it on a part-time basis (he was also assistant principal) and changed the description to reflect that.
Then, last Monday it was re-classified as full-time. Has your head stopped spinning yet?
Complicating things even more is the presence of school committeewoman Elizabeth Marchese as one of the candidates, though it really shouldn’t. The feeling here is that Marchese has conducted herself openly, honestly and above board throughout this whole process.
Marchese has coached and volunteered in various youth sports organizations in Saugus. She meets the criteria the town outlined for the position. She checked with the state ethics board before she applied. She’s recused herself from any vote that involves the process (including the one the committee took Monday to change the job from part- to full-time). She’s even offered to resign from the committee — even though she legally doesn’t have to — if she is chosen.
From the outside looking it in, it would seem that Marchese’s motivation is simply a passion to work on behalf of kids. Between her coaching and her efforts to help athletes with their studies, that should be pretty obvious.
But apparently it isn’t. Though no one’s come out and said anything, you get the feeling some on the school committee do not trust the process enough to ensure that all applicants, including Marchese, are playing on a level field. Arthur Grabowski got permission to sit in on the interviews, with his assurance that he wouldn’t breach their confidentiality. But, surprise, surprise, the confidentiality ended up being breached. Draw your own conclusions as to who might be responsible for that, but as Marchese was only candidate who was publicly outed, she’s certainly drawn hers.
The breach caused a round of bickering and finger-pointing reminiscent of the last time a group of middle schoolers fought with each other in the cafeteria at lunch.
Then there’s Peter Manoogian, another committee member, who Monday proposed, after all the job criteria had been set, that it be expanded to include teaching about drugs and health and wellness.
There’s nothing wrong with this idea in theory. In fact, other ADs, in other cities and towns, do have this responsibility thrust upon them. In fact quite a few of them have other duties attached to the job. Nelson was an assistant principal, as was Frank Kowalski when he was Swampscott’s athletic director. Sheridan didn’t just schedule buses. He ran Peabody’s health and wellness program.
So what Manoogian suggested isn’t out of line. And if he’d suggested it earlier this summer, when the parameters of the job were being discussed, it would have had tremendous merit.
But making it a condition for hiring now almost seems like obstructionism. It makes you wonder whether there’s a concerted effort to throw up roadblocks to prevent Marchese from being nominated for the position, either as payback for internecine political warfare left over from the school issue or some other concocted reason.
Let’s hope not. Marchese’s bid appears to be sincere. Since the rest of the applicants aren’t known, it’s hard to say whether she’s the best candidate for the job. That’s for the interview committee to decide. At this point, all interested parties over there need to let these people do their jobs and come up with a nominee. School starts in less than a month. Football teams begin practice Friday. Time’s wasting.
Can these people stop acting like infants over there and start acting as if they actually care about the welfare of the boys and girls they swore to serve?