Marblehead school board to rewrite ethics code

MARBLEHEAD – After three years the School Committee is ready to rewrite three key paragraphs of its Code of Ethics and address the question of committee member statements outside of meetings.The section that concerned committee member Jonathan Lederman in 2009 and 2010 tells members not to “make statements or promises of how he/she will vote on matters that will come before the committee.”Lederman voted against the code in the past because he said this section restricts “what we can say as individuals.” New member Thomas Connolly, who teaches English at Suffolk University, called that paragraph “a gag order.”?I think we could have a document very similar to this that would be acceptable,” he said.Committee member Kathleen Leonardson told her colleagues, “Right now I may feel one way but maybe there?s more information on an issue and I should ask questions and withhold judgment.” She said the section could be fixed.Connolly also offered additional wording on a passage that committee members support the school administration and refuse to act on complaints on their own. Connolly added the wording “provided that the superintendent is pro-actively addressing these challenges.”?We can work with what we have,” said Committee Chairman Eurim Chun. She asked Leonardson and Connolly to work on the concerns together and come up with revisions.