MARBLEHEAD — Interviews and vote for the vacant School Committee member spot have been postponed until further notice due to a scheduling conflict with a Select Board member. This and concerns regarding errors in applications were brought to the table at a School Committee meeting on Dec 1.
“I think the frustration is that we all agreed on this date well in advance,” School Committee Secretary Allison Taylor said during the meeting.
During the meeting the committee attempted to find a date that could possibly work with all members which Sarah Fox, chairperson of the School Committee, would then bring to the Select Board. As of Monday, there is still no date set for the interviews.
“The Selectboard is currently working on pinning down a date that works for all their members. When they determine such a date they will reach out to the School Committee to confirm it works for all of us. I’m sorry I don’t have any current date to share,” Fox wrote in an email interview after the meeting.
Moses Grader, Select Board chairperson, said the boards are trying to schedule the joint meeting for after the holidays.
“It has not been possible to assemble a full compliment of both boards in December – which I think is necessary to avoid even-numbered votes with the attendant risk that we split votes and waste everyone’s time,” Grader wrote in an email.
Sarah Gold and Maegan Taylor, both School Committee members, expressed their reservations about some of the applications that were received for the position.
“We were very clear that it needed to go to [Fox], and it needed to go to Moses … and that it needed to be a cover letter and a resume included and so if those things didn’t happen … by four p.m. yesterday I don’t think those people should be included,” Gold said.
In response to Golds comments, Fox said that some of the issues were tech errors on their part from not being able to download certain documents. There were also typos of emails in one of the press releases that announced the position opening.
“I relayed the concerns of Sarah Gold and Meagan Taylor regarding time stamps and their feeling that some applicants did not follow directions to the Town Administrator. His response was that these concerns would fall under administrative errors rather than technical errors which would be something like an applicant not being a registered voter. He said in his experience it is not advisable to disqualify people for administrative errors,” Fox wrote.
Disqualification for applicants can only be done through a vote by the “joint boards,” Fox said.
“I notified all School Committee members of this,” Fox wrote. “I informed them they may, if they chose so, make a motion at the joint meeting to disqualify candidates the way one would make any motion to be voted on by both committees. This is the only mechanism for removing a candidate for a reason other than voter registration status.”
In an interview, Gold said she understands the decision to move forward with the applicants but she still has concerns for those who did not follow the applications directions. If a student forgot to fill out a test or missed a college application they wouldn’t have a second chance and it should be the same for the applicants, she said.
“The school committee is not a paid position and so we don’t want to be discouraging people on one hand, even with administrative technicalities, however, I back up against the wall, again, when I think about the standards that we hold our students to,” Gold said. “So for a board that is basically at the end of the day in charge of student achievement, my concern moves forward.”
In terms of the postponed interviews and vote, Gold said she wishes it was happening on the original date.
“I continue to wish that we could have held the meeting tomorrow evening, as it was originally stated, you know, it’s hard to hold our applicants to the rules that we set forth when we’re not following the rules that we set forth,” Gold said.
Emily Pauls can be reached at [email protected]
