Marblehead Public Schools

Dozens of educators, at least one who fought back tears, packed a School Committee meeting Thursday night demanding the removal of Student Services Director Paula Donnelly and Associate Director Emily Dean. The teachers accused Donnelly and Dean of ignoring safety concerns and requests for more staffing. Teachers gather before the Dec. 21 School Committee meeting where many spoke out about dangerous under-staffing in classrooms. CURRENT PHOTOS / LEIGH BLANDER The School Committee met later in executive [private] session to discuss demands by the Marblehead teachers union that Donnelly and Dean be fired. “I spent five months in a state of alert while trying to teach and keep my class safe,” said Glover School teacher Jane Sullivan. Sullivan said she asked repeatedly for a suppo...

After several meetings since four Glover School educators were placed on leave, the Marblehead teachers union said it was “extremely disappointed in the inadequate response” from interim Superintendent Theresa McGuinness to concerns about the leadership of the district’s student services department, which supports children with challenges. “It is disturbing that an interim superintendent would prioritize maintaining the incompetent leadership she inherited over supporting the rank-and-file educators she purports to value and hopes to lead,” the Marblehead Education Association wrote in a statement sent to the Current Monday, Dec. 18.  Recent student restraint incidents have led to a review of the district’s policies and four educators being placed on leave. CURRENT PHOTO / LEIG...

In an email to Superintendent Theresa McGuinness and the School Committee, the union representing Marblehead teachers declared "no confidence" in the leadership of the district's student services department, which supports children with learning challenges. "In response to concerns about the culture and climate in Marblehead schools, the MEA asked members if they had confidence in the abilities of Student Services Director Paula Donnelly and Associate Director of Student Services Emily Dean," wrote MEA Co-Presidents Jonathan Heller and Sally Shevory. "Ninety-seven percent of 260 teachers, paras and tutors endorsed the attached statement. We believe that working conditions are unacceptable for all of us and that members of our union are being unfairly punished all because of the ina...

The mother of an eighth-grade student asked the School Committee on Dec. 7 to respond to an English assignment focused on readings on the American Library Association’s list of most frequently challenged books. Melanie Andrews’ child, along with a classmate, initially chose “The Bluest Eye” by Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison. Written in 1970, “The Bluest Eye” tells the story of an 11-year-old Black girl who believes that she is ugly and that lighter skin and blue eyes would make her beautiful. She lives in a violent family and is raped by her father. A Marblehead mom spoke to the School Committee about a reading assignment involving ‘The Bluest Eye,’ a book by Nobel Prize-winning author, Toni Morrison. “I did what most parents would do — I Googled the book,” Andrews t...