Diorio vying for top spot at Lowell High

SAUGUS – Saugus High School Principal Joseph Diorio, who has been on paid administrative leave since December, will interview for the headmaster position at Lowell High School next Tuesday, according to a Lowell school official.Mike Cassidy, director of human resources for the Lowell School District, said Diorio was named one of four finalists for the position.However, according to the The Sun of Lowell, two candidates dropped out of contention, which leaves Diorio and former Lowell Mayor and City Manager Brian Martin.”Joe did confirm an interview and he is all set,” said Cassidy. “We’re trying to lock in candidates, and time is definitely an issue for some because some of these applicants are not local.”Cassidy said current headmaster Ed Rozmiarek is leaving at the end of this school year and the new headmaster would start on July 1.Saugus Schools Superintendent Richard Langlois could not be reached Tuesday. Langlois has not publicly commented on the situation except for in a Jan. 9 statement, in which he stated Diorio has been on leave since Dec. 18 and will remain on leave “pending the conclusion of an inquiry into the management of certain financial and other affairs of Saugus High School.”Langlois also stated Diorio’s leave “is not disciplinary.”School Committee member Arthur Grabowski declined to comment while member Joe Malone said information about Diorio, and an ongoing audit into the high school and middle school student activity accounts has been scarce.”Rich hasn’t said a thing to us,” said Malone. “They haven’t told us anything other than he’s on a leave. Every time the issue is raised there’s nothing new to report ? When there are lawyers involved and it’s a legal matter, everyone has to be pretty cautious.”School Committee Chairman Wendy Reed said there have been no discussions on “any vacancies with the principal’s position,” noting the school committee does not play a role in appointing a new principal.”Normally you’d be preparing for something like that,” said Reed. “You’d be advertising at about this time. There is public involvement, kind of like a search committee. A school committee representative usually observes the process, but is not a voting member.”Reed also said the lack of information and the long-delayed audit have been “very frustrating” as auditors from Powers & Sullivan have given “no hint at all.””We knew from some of the line of questioning, plus previous audits, that there were some procedural issues that needed to be addressed,” said Reed. “A lot of those were addressed at the beginning of the year ? I haven’t had any direct conversation with them for a long time. My goodness, they’ve been saying, ‘Two weeks’ since January. I’m sure they’re being thorough, but at least if we had a preliminary we could act on issues we weren’t aware of.”Attorneys for Diorio could not be reached Tuesday.Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].