To the editor:
Well, good people of Marblehead, I’m back with another letter to the editor. Unfortunately — or perhaps not — the audio and video at the Sept. 7 School Committee meeting were not working properly. I wonder why. So, I guess you missed me asking Chairwoman Fox if she intended to apologize to the stakeholders she called lunatics. Her explanation was that she only meant those who complained in front of her children. Forgive me for being suspicious of her answer. First, it was her child who erased her text messages and contact information to and from committee member Alison Taylor. Truth be told, I am very vocal about this School Committee. However, I would not send a balloon or speak rudely in front of anyone’s children. My issue with this committee is its lack of transparency.
So, I will move on to a new topic that unfolded at the Sept. 7 meeting. Surprise, surprise: I did not get chosen to sit on the screening committee in the search for a new interim superintendent. But, as I suspected, they chose one of their friends. There was a request for a seat for someone from the SEPEC community. That request was turned down. Meagan Taylor tried to bring up the subject again about adding a seat. Meagan got the gavel.
The committee decided to go with the recommendations of the consulting company in choosing two School Committee members, Sarah Fox and Alison Taylor; their friend, a staff person and Michelle Cresta as administrator. There is no hard and fast rule saying you could not add others. Lynn’s search for a new superintendent included a teacher, a principal, SEPAC, METCO, a parent, school committee members and an administrator. Lynn also has DEI personnel. Granted, Lynn has more students and more diversity; it’s a city, not a town. Should the size of a community matter? No, it should not.
Please add one unbiased seat from both the SEPAC and METCO communities. In my last letter to the editor, I asked if we could trust this committee to support all students. Committee member Meagan Taylor tried. Well, folks, we got our answer Sept. 7. They do not.
Good people of Marblehead, you need to raise your voices and demand the inclusion of all children and stakeholders.
Mary McCarriston
Pinecliff Drive
