The School Committee last night voted to invite interim superintendent finalist John Robidoux to Marblehead on Monday, June 3, to meet with district administrators, teachers and the community. Chair Sarah Fox tells the Current that Robidoux will meet with the community 5-6:30 p.m. in the high school auditorium. The committee will then meet on Thursday, June 6, to vote on his hiring.
On May 22, four members of the committee traveled to Swansea, where Robidoux is currently superintendent, to speak with leaders and parents there.
“He has a real open-door policy that families and staff use,” reported School Committee member Brian Ota, who met with a Swansea School Committee member and an elementary school principal.
“Under John’s superintendency, they passed budgets each year for the 17 years he was there with an increase of 4-8% each year,” Ota said. “Since John’s been with them, there’s been no need to pink slip employees at the end of the year.”
Member Jenn Schaeffner met with the Swansea assistant superintendent.
“She is very sad to see him leave. She had very positive things to say about her many, many years working with him,” Schaeffner said.
Fox added, “I left feeling very comfortable.”
Fox described parents lining up to say hello to Robidoux at a field day event.
“People can learn a skill, but you can’t learn personality,” she said.
Robidoux announced last fall that he would be leaving Swansea at the end of this school year due to tensions with the local school committee. Ota asked a Swansea School Committee member about why Robidoux wanted to leave.
“The last couple of people who got elected (to the Swansea School Committee), for whatever reason, just kept picking fights with him over everything,” Ota said. “It got to the point where he was constantly trying to justify himself.”
Teacher contract talks
Fox emphasized at the May 28 meeting that Town Administrator Thatcher Kezer is welcome at all contract negotiations with the teachers union but declined to vote him onto the bargaining subcommittee. Kezer, who has negotiated about 30 contracts over his career as a public official, said he has not been invited to bargaining.
In an email to Fox on May 29, Kezer wrote, “As you may recall, I sent an email in February reminding you, the superintendent and my chair that, according to MGL Chapter 150E, I am a voting member of the School Committee for purposes of collective bargaining. I joined the earlier strategy sessions only because I read of the meetings in the Current. I appreciate the better coordination for scheduling and look forward to being of assistance to the committee.”
Kezer continued, “The results of these negotiations have a significant impact on the long-term financial health of the community, so it is important that we all work together to get the best results. I am also interested in more conversation about School Committee proposals. I am concerned that the School Committee does not have any significant proposals given that the unions have requests that have significant costs and disruption to classroom time for teachers.”
Sick leave bank approved
In executive session, the School Committee approved a sick leave bank for educators. The vote followed an earlier statement from union co-presidents Jonathan Heller and Sally Shevory that they had discovered the School Committee never signed an agreement last spring establishing the sick leave bank, where educators can donate and share sick days.
Former superintendent John Buckey referenced the sick leave bank agreement, and thanked Fox, in a meeting nearly a year ago, on June 15.
The MEA also produced a document approving the sick leave bank, dated June 16, 2023, with Heller and Shevory’s signatures and a blank space for Fox’s signature. They said they believed Fox was going to sign next.
Before going into executive session on May 29, Fox addressed the MEA’s claim.
“I went back to try and find some ratification. I had never seen a finalized version of it. It certainly did not come before us to be ratified,” she said.
Fox acknowledged that the School Committee may have become distracted last summer.
“Full disclosure, we spent a lot of time through some transitions,” she said referring to the committee’s efforts to oust Buckey, who ultimately left in August.
Fox projected onto a screen a shared Google document of the sick leave bank proposal. She said a review of its edit history showed someone named Anthony Parolisi was last in the document in March 2024. Parolisi is a rep with the Massachusetts Teachers Association. Fox said the document also showed that Heller added the signature lines on Oct. 5, 2023, months after Heller and Shevory said they signed a printed version.
The MEA released this statement after the School Committee meeting:
“We were shocked to learn that the School Committee failed to fulfill its obligation to hold a ratification vote on this agreement due to the many disruptions that transpired at the end of last school year and into the summer. We were further disappointed to hear School Committee Chair and negotiating team member Sarah Fox claim zero responsibility for the committee’s own malpractice and attempt to lay blame on the MEA while the School Committee prepared to ratify the agreement unanimously one year in arrears.”
Heller said he is glad the sick bank is finally officially approved.
Meanwhile, the MEA filed a grievance with the School Committee over the district’s decision to remove union signs from school property.
The next bargaining session is set for Monday, June 3.
This story was updated on May 30 to reflect that a video of track changes to a shared Google document of the sick leave bank policy showed Anthony Parolisi was last in document in March 2024 and that Jonathan Heller added signature lines to it in October 2023.
Editor Leigh Blander is an experienced TV, radio and print journalist.