SAUGUS – Superintendent Erin McMahon is on paid administrative leave pending the results of an investigation to potential unspecified misconduct, the School Committee announced Thursday night.
McMahon “voluntarily stepped back” from her duties as superintendent on Tuesday, and will remain on leave for an unspecified amount of time. As a result, the committee unanimously voted to table the nearly $32.8 million Fiscal Year 2024 budget she submitted last week.
McMahon, who was present at the meeting, left with the committee as it held a 35-minute Executive Session, for “contract negotiations” and “to discuss strategy with respect to pending litigation.” She returned to the meeting as School Committee Chair Vincent Serino made the announcement:
“After consultation with legal counsel, the Saugus School Committee has accepted Saugus Superintendent Erin McMahon’s agreed upon paid administrative leave. This is a personal matter and as such will be handled with appropriate due diligence, confidentiality, and professionalism. Actions taken today should not be considered disciplinary,” Serino said. “The committee will have no further comment until the results of the investigation.”
In a statement, McMahon said she would “zealously and transparently defend my unblemished professional reputation.”
“While I have not yet been provided with any specific allegations made against me, any allegations of wrongdoing on my part are false,” she said “I welcome review and oversight by a qualified professional investigator, I look forward to assisting in an unbiased review, which I hope will be done efficiently and expeditiously.”
McMahon was hired by the School Committee ahead of the 2021-22 school year.
Following the announcement, Committee Vice Chair John Hatch expressed concern over voting on a budget. A motion to table the budget was passed unanimously.
During public comment, former teacher Jenna Nuzzo, who said she was part of a round of layoffs McMahon initiated last year, addressed the Committee. She spoke vaguely with regards to McMahon but said that her and others would “not let this go.”
Another staff member took the podium to inquire about an interim superintendent or other measures that would be taken in McMahon’s absence. Serino said that the District would be running as usual and that “something” would be communicated.
Kevin Fontanella, vice president of the Saugus Educators Association (SEA), then made a formal request on behalf of the SEA to reopen negotiations with Saugus schools.
Fontanella explained that the SEA and schools had agreed to a contract which stipulated “each calendar year, year 2 and year 3 of the contract, we agreed that the town would have to reopen for negotiations if there was any more money in the budget.”
He continued, “Because the budget was presented last week… and so today we formally asked to reopen negotiations. So we are hoping that in the next month they’ll respond and hopefully we’ll be able to sit at the table.”
He described what SEA would like out of negotiations, saying, “Our goal is to, of course, get a more competitive salary structure, especially with what a lot of the unions in the area are getting, especially recently during the Covid years, and also try to redress from the financial issues that we had last year.”
McMahon exited the meeting before the end of the public comment section. The meeting was adjourned without incident. Both Serino and McMahon refused to comment further.
