Schools may lack superintendent

John Howell
Posted 6/30/15

By JOHN HOWELL

The unconfirmed candidate for Warwick superintendent whose checkered career made him a lightning rod for controversy has taken his name out of the running, reportedly leaving the …

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Schools may lack superintendent

Posted

By JOHN HOWELL

The unconfirmed candidate for Warwick superintendent whose checkered career made him a lightning rod for controversy has taken his name out of the running, reportedly leaving the Warwick School Committee with no one to pick from when the post opens July 14.

Word that Dr. Anthony Pope had withdrawn as a candidate circulated widely Thursday, although it was not until School Committee member Terri Medeiros returned a call on Friday that the information was confirmed.

Medeiros said committee chair Jennifer Ahearn said in Wednesday’s executive committee meeting that Pope is no longer a candidate. Medeiros said the committee had “made no final decision” on Pope and that she was still in the process of doing her due diligence.

Medeiros said the committee needs to obtain legal advice on how to move forward, adding, “We want to make sure we’re making the right choice.”

In an email yesterday, Ahearn said she had informed the committee that “one of our final candidates had withdrawn from the selection process,” and that the committee will discuss the superintendent’s post at its July 14 meeting.

“Luckily, on a positive note, we are headed into summer with very limited staffing/students around, so any abbreviated vacancy will hopefully be of limited impact. Of course, the committee is extremely mindful of the year ahead and committed to making the best decisions for the coming year,” she wrote.

In an email exchange, Mayor Scott Avedisian said he and City Council President Donna Travis have asked to meet with Ahearn and committee vice chair Eugene Nadeau “to clear the air and to advocate for a more transparent search.”

“From the recent budget hearings we saw frustration on all sides, so I hope that they will be willing to have a discussion. Many letters, calls and emails have been unanswered, so I think a meeting would be helpful,” he wrote.

No committee meetings had been posted as of yesterday other than the July 14 meeting. Technically, as of that date, the department will be without a superintendent, as Richard D’Agostino’s retirement takes effect on July 13.

D’Agostino did not know whether the committee intended to retain an interim and he could not confirm that Pope had withdrawn his name, which hadn’t been confirmed at that point.

A spokesman for the Rhode Island Department of Education said yesterday that state law requires the city to have a superintendent. He could not say what recourse the state would take if the committee failed to name a superintendent.

Independent of D’Agostino and Medeiros, it was confirmed that the department has reached out to at least one possible interim candidate for the post and that the person refused the offer.

The selection of a superintendent, once believed to be a foregone conclusion with the reappointment of D’Agostino to a three-year term, has become an incendiary issue in recent months with disclosure that the administration did little in response to a Gorton science teacher’s alleged inappropriate actions with several female students and the secretive means in which the committee narrowed the field of candidates without reporting its actions.

Following the arrest of the Gorton teacher by North Kingstown Police on charges of first- and second-degree sexual assault on a 15-year-old girl, the teacher’s actions at Gorton were reported, prompting questions over what actions the administration had taken. School Committee member Karen Bachus joined Council President Donna Travis and councilwomen Camille Vella-Wilkinson and Kathleen Usler in calling for a vote of no confidence in D’Agostino, director of secondary education Dennis Mullen and school legal counsel and director of human resources Rosemary Healey.

Vella-Wilkinson has held off in introducing the council resolution until the results of an independent investigation of the matter, which was completed in May, are released to the public. At a recent school committee meeting, Ahearn read a statement in which she said the issue of the superintendent would be taken up at the July 14 meeting. On June 8, the school department issued a release that after working for 33 years in Warwick schools D’Agostino would retire on July 13.

In April, prior to the eruption of the Gorton incident, the committee voted in a closed session to eliminate the only other known local candidate for superintendent, Warwick Area Career and Technical Center Director William McCaffrey, from the running. The vote was never reported in apparent violation of the Open Meetings Act, and the action was only learned of until about a month later. The Warwick Beacon has filed a complaint with the attorney general over the vote.

After the vote, it was speculated D’Agostino and Pope were the only candidates, although neither Ahearn nor other members of the committee would confirm nor deny that.

Medeiros agreed that information not only regarding the search for a superintendent but also that of the department investigation of the handling of the Gorton incidents has been sparse.

Medeiros asked her colleagues to put their egos behind them. “The only thing that needs to stand in front is the need of the children,” she said.

Neither Andrew Henneous, newly appointed legal counsel for the committee, nor Pope could be reached for comment.

Comments

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  • Justanidiot

    Warwick has been lacking a superintendent the day Mr. Shapiro walked out the door.

    Tuesday, June 30, 2015 Report this

  • danfire

    justanidiot you nailed it.

    Tuesday, June 30, 2015 Report this

  • JohnStark

    The rudderless chaos continues unabated.

    Wednesday, July 1, 2015 Report this

  • markyc

    It's past time that the Warwick School Committee gets its act together.

    1) Balance the upcoming School budget.

    2) Negotiate & agree to a new Teachers' Contract.

    3) Choose an interim Superintendent; from the article, State law REQUIRES a Superintendent to be in place. A NEW search can begin following the interim's selection/acceptance of that role.

    4) Inform the State DOE of the school district's plan of its consolidation choice. If a middle school model(grades 6-8) will be used, determine types of certifications required for the process.

    5) Consolidation 2 needs to begin; which elementary schools will & when will they be closed? What transportation issues need to be addressed?

    If the above issues aren't addressed ASAP & publicly, the School District will not be viewed in a good manner-both within the district & from outside the district.

    One more suggestion: the airport runway extension will likely have a larger effect on Warwick, including how it effects the school system, than we presently realize & the School Committee/Community need to act accordingly.

    Thursday, July 2, 2015 Report this