Swampscott super slammed by SEA

SWAMPSCOTT – Teachers have taken a no confidence vote in Superintendent Matthew Malone, the Swampscott Education Association (SEA) announced Monday afternoon.According to a statement issued by the SEA, members voted 138-6 to announce they have no confidence in the School Department leader.”For the last three years, we have seen our good faith, input, suggestions for change, and professional expertise consistently ignored as Dr. Malone and some of the administrators he has hired create instability without facilitating positive change in the district,” the statement read.According to the SEA, reasons given by teachers for the vote of no confidence included overspending on seminars and for “retaining more administrative staff than necessary.””Dr. Malone has overspent on expensive trips to seminars and conferences, memberships in professional organizations, highly paid outside consultants, packaged educational products and poorly conceived professional development,” the statement read. “He has failed to reserve money for hiring and retaining the best teachers and essential services.”The union also criticized Malone for micromanaging the schools.”Hiring and staffing decisions that belong to the building principals are being made and changed by Dr. Malone,” the SEA statement said. ” Jobs are posted, eliminated, reposted and changed again before thorough needs-assessments are done?”Another criticism was “the frequent turnover of administrative teams at the high school and middle school,” which the statement said, “adds to the chaotic planning environment.”According to the union, Malone frequently ignored the agreement between the SEA and School Committee.”Dr. Malone has been arbitrary and disrespectful in his treatment of faculty, staff and coaches, even those who have given their entire career to the Swampscott School system,” the union statement reads.Malone said he has been honest and open with the SEA Executive Board during his three years with the district.”I will continue to always operate above board, maintaining open and collegial dialogue with the executive board of SEA,” he said. “I will note, however, open and collegial dialogue does not mean SEA will get what it wants. It is also compellingly clear to me that over the past three years the SEA has exhibited a strong dislike for my ethos. It appears that they just can’t deal with that. If this type of tactic makes the executive board of the SEA feel better about themselves then I am glad for them, but obviously this type of tactic will not move the system forward.”Malone pointed out he has completed his third year and looking forward to his fourth year with the district despite the no confidence vote.”I enjoyed my tenure here immensely and we’re doing some excellent work,” he said. “We will continue doing excellent work and move the district forward.”The statement released by the SEA expressed a willingness to work amicably with the School Committee.”We hope the School Committee’s willingness to work with us will lead to a more collaborative era for the Swampscott Public Schools, because we have grown increasingly frustrated with the top-down administrative style of our current superintendent,” the statement read. “We would also like to publicly thank the current School Committee, most of whom are relatively new members, for inviting us recently to begin working more closely with them to look at ways to improve conditions in our school district. On June 9th, our representatives joined the full School Committee for a groundbreaking three-hour meeting at the high school. It was a frank and open dialogue that led, among other things, to the addition of a teacher as a non-voting member to the budget subcommittee. We hope it will be the first of many such meetings to come and we commend the School Committee for respecting our professional expertise and for soliciting our ideas for the future of the Swampscott Public Schools.”Despite the vote of no confidence, School Committee Ch