Marblehead super explains rift with Bell School principal

MARBLEHEAD – Superintendent of Schools Paul Dulac said the current "disruption" between himself and Bell School Principal Stephen Medeiros has its roots in Medeiros’s contract discussions a year ago."When we drafted Steve’s contract last year it was a two-year contract conditional on his performance regarding curriculum," Dulac said.On May 7, School Committee members reacted negatively to Medeiros’s School Improvement Plan for next year because they said it did not address academic matters. Dulac told the committee he would meet with Medeiros to draft a revised plan but during a meeting in Dulac’s office May 8, according to Medeiros, Dulac asked the principal for his resignation. Medeiros sent school parents a memo stating the situation May 9, a Saturday. The eight-year principal said in the memo that he expects to leave the school July 31."It remains my hope that we can continue to work together for the students of Bell School beyond July 31," he wrote. "However, the future is now unclear.""Without being too corny, ‘I guess my best wasn’t good enough."In a telephone interview Friday Medeiros said he is still scheduled to deliver his revised School Improvement Plan June 4. Asked about his job status he said he had not met with Dulac for two weeks and had heard nothing more since the previous meeting.Medeiros has hired a lawyer – Salem Attorney John Ronan, a civil and criminal lawyer – but said he has made no decision about pursuing a legal strategy. He did say he has been strongly supported by school parents.School Committee members hammered Medeiros’s Power Point presentation to them for not addressing academic concerns at Bell, where 29 percent of Grade 3 students failed or needed improvement in English in last year’s first-time MCAS exams and 37 percent failed or needed improvement in math."I don’t see anything academic," committee member Dick Nohelty said. "I feel as if we’re supposed to take your word for it, you can keep going this way but it’s not going to get better." His concerns were echoed by other committee members.Medeiros told the committee he and the staff are addressing the MCAS issues. "I’ll take responsibility for a presentation that you may not like," he said, "but I feel strongly that we’re doing a wonderful job."Dulac has refused to comment on that meeting as part of a personnel discussion. "I’m disappointed that Steve chose to go public," he said, "but my refusal to comment doesn’t mean that there’s no action on the horizon."The superintendent said the School Committee meeting was actually "a very small piece" of a year-long discussion."Next year Marblehead is moving into a building-based model and I need to feel confident that every school is run by competent, skilled leaders," he said.Dulac admitted that his office received emails from parents in response to Medeiros’s announcement, on both sides of the issue. He met with Bell parents last week.