School Committee member Arthur Grabowski’s defeat in Tuesday’s town election is a cautionary tale about elected officials overextending their reach and an opportunity to reflect on the long-term value of elected school boards.
In the week before voters opted to not keep him on the School Committee, Grabowski clashed with a school employee and earned a reprimand from School Superintendent Dr. David DeRuosi.
Grabowski is no stranger to town controversy and, at first glance, his latest dustup is amusing. But DeRuosi, an experienced educator who was hired by Saugus officials to run local schools after several unsuccessful searches for superintendents, probably didn’t anticipate having to treat an elected official like an 11-year-old.
An altercation between Grabowski and the employee last month prompted DeRuosi to order Grabowski to not enter school buildings without first getting permission. According to a letter drafted by DeRuosi, the exchange between Grabowski and the superintendent’s assistant was heated enough to leave the employee feeling “… physically and emotionally upset …”
Grabowski has a different version of events that includes, according to the letter, apologies and flowers presented to the employee who, the letter said, Grabowski “aggressively chastised.”
The Grabowski affair can be viewed as an isolated incident or just one more concrete indication that school committees are public bodies with limited responsibilities and even more limited value as contributors to public debate and the intelligent expenditure of taxpayer dollars.
Town boards of selectmen and finance committees and city councils and mayors make the financial decisions in Massachusetts communities, and school committees, for all the talk and bluster exhibited by elected officials like Grabowski, lack real value.
The fact that Grabowski, if the letter is to believed, was snooping around looking at paperwork on DeRuosi’s desk suggests he has too much time on his hands. There are plenty of significant educational concerns in Saugus and the town is about to embark on a gigantic school construction and renovation project that will demand professional planning and accountability.
Where Grabowski and the school committee fit into this challenge is uncertain. It’s easy to imagine DeRuosi hoping, maybe praying, committee members will stay out of his and Town Manager Scott Crabtree’s way while the serious work of redefining public education in Saugus gets underway in earnest.
Of course, as a superintendent hired by a school committee, DeRuosi will never voice that wish but he can’t be blamed for thinking it. School committees could have relevance in modern public school districts if they were firmly tied into the school councils that are an important component of state law governing local school operations.
The councils provide grassroots opportunities for parents, teachers and principals to talk about school concerns and improve schools. There are plenty of councils represented by serious and committed parents and educators.
A hypothetical plan to revamp the Saugus School Committee could tie committee member elections to Town Meeting precincts. Committee aspirants would run for office in designated precincts and, if elected, be obligated to represent the interest of school councils in those precincts on the committee.
The revamped committee would have the strictly advisory but serious responsibility of advising town finance decision-makers about the priorities and concerns voiced by school council members.
School committees are a traditional starting point for local politicians aiming for higher office but the Grabowski affair calls into question the need for committees in an era of increasingly-professionalized public education.
