SAUGUS — The School Department’s athletic director position has been restored to full time.
Amid the banter that ensued in a special meeting of the School Committee on Tuesday night, full-time status was restored to the position with a 4-0 vote. Committeewoman Elizabeth Marchese recused herself because of her interest in the position.
“We are looking at our best athletes in this town constantly leaving to go to other locations,” said Anthony Cogliano, who has been a candidate for the position each time it has opened up since 1995.
“The next athletic director has to have a good focus on the entire town, not just the high school, but working with the youth programs and keeping those kids here. That’s why there is a need for a full time.”
Earlier in the year, committee members voted on a budget that included a part-time athletic director. The position had been reduced to half time in 2014 as part of $2 million in budget cuts. At the time, the job was held by Robert O’Leary. His responsibilities were placed on then-vice principal and former athletic director Michael Nelson.
The open position was incorrectly advertised by the School Department as full time although only $47,000 was listed in the budget to fund the salary, said chairwoman Jeannie Meredith.
The salary for the position will not be determined until after negotiations are completed but the maximum will be set at $72,000, which was the outgoing pay of the last full-time athletic director, said Superintendent Dr. David DeRuosi.
Several candidates applied, including Marchese, and were interviewed by a seven-person hiring committee on two separate days last month.
“Over the past few weeks, my character, ethics, and integrity have been called to task by certain members of this committee in an attempt to cast a shadow over my application for the position of athletic director,” said Marchese. “Since then, every allegation, innuendo and inference has been proven false and unsubstantiated.”
Marchese, who has been heavily involved with youth sports since she began coaching baseball in 2004, said she has had an interest in the position for several years. She applied once before in 2013, and when the opportunity presented itself again this year, she jumped on it. She plans to resign from the School Committee should she be chosen for the position.
Prior to her job interview, Marchese contacted the state Ethics Commission to determine whether applying for the position would be considered a conflict of interest. The commission determined “nothing in the conflict of interest law prohibits (her) from serving on the school committee at the same time (she is) applying for the position of Athletic Director for the Saugus Public Schools,” according to a July 20 email sent from the commission to Marchese.
Additionally, because the board does not appoint or supervise the athletic director, she would not be required to step down.
But Arthur Grabowski, a school committee member, argued that Marchese should not be eligible for the position for reasons that included an ongoing superintendent evaluation.
During the first of two rounds of interviews last Friday, Grabowski sat in as an observer, signing a confidentiality agreement, which was later breached.
Chairwoman Jeannie Meredith argued that he did not have the right to be in the room while candidates were confidentially being interviewed. She was outraged that a member of the committee, which is tasked with setting policy, would violate a policy that ensures a fair hiring process, she said.
Tuesday night, Marchese argued that it wasn’t her ethics that should be evaluated. She questioned whether it was ethical for a school committee member to attend the interviews, break a confidentiality agreement, and disrupt a candidate’s interview.
“There is a pattern that only points to one conclusion,” she said. “This is personal.”
Grabowski said he did not attend the interview to assert any type of authority and argued that school committee members are allowed to observe interviews.
Marchese also said another school committee member tried to change the job description and prerequisites of the position prior to it being posted to prevent certain people from being eligible to apply.
During Tuesday’s meeting, committee member Peter Manoogian requested to add teaching a drug abuse prevention course to the athletic director’s list of responsibilities and to require that candidates are certified to teach by the Massachusetts Department of Education.
Meredith said the committee does not have the authority to change an existing job description.
“The fact that people from out of town are calling me and saying ‘this is a joke’ is disgusting display of who, of who, of who, of who,” said Barbara Wall, who has coached three sports in Saugus. “Fall sports start in two weeks. Who is going to be in charge of this?”
