SWAMPSCOTT — 95 percent of the Swampscott Education Association (SEA), the teachers union, have voted that they have no confidence in Director of Teaching and Learning Jean Bacon.
“The Swampscott Education Association has decided it is time to speak to the Superintendent, School Committee, and greater community, because we are deeply concerned about the morale, functioning, and culture of the Swampscott Public Schools under the direction of Dr. Bacon,” a statement from the SEA said.
Concerns regarding Bacon’s leadership began three years ago, SEA President Rebecca Bucklin said. When they first brought the issues to the table in a meeting with Bacon, the SEA had high hopes that their request for changes would be met.
Those changes never came.
In the SEA statement, the union said there is a lack of shared vision, a lack of a sense of cooperation where SEA recommendations are taken seriously, a concerning trend of valuing policy over people, a lack of support, and a lack of trust with Bacon.
“As educators, our goal each and every day is to provide a safe and welcoming environment for all of our students so that they are able to thrive while receiving a quality education,” the statement said. “Since Dr. Bacon has been the director of teaching and learning, the already challenging work of educating our students has become more difficult.”
Bacon, Bucklin said, has “admirable qualities” and is a hard worker. She emphasized that this was not an easy decision to make. The last time the union passed a vote of no confidence was in 2009 for Superintendent Matt Malone, who served in that role from 2005 to 2009.
“Unfortunately, over the last several years, there has been a decline in morale under [Bacon’s] leadership,” Bucklin said. “The membership feels that their voices need to be heard loud and clear about what’s best for children in the district.”
According to the SEA statement, the education union at the district Bacon previously worked at also had a 95.5 percent vote of no confidence. That union had many of the same issues with Bacon that the SEA does, the statement said.
A lot of change needs to be made to the position of director of teaching and learning, Bucklin said.
“It’s essential we have a leader that can create a shared and thoughtful vision for our students and an empowered learning environment for our staff,” the SEA statement said. “Though we have tried, we cannot attain this with our current Director of Teaching and Learning.”
When The Item reached out to Bacon for comment, Superintendent Pamela Angelakis responded with a statement.
“I remain confident in Dr. Bacon’s ability to perform her duties as director of teaching and learning for Swampscott Public Schools. I prefer not to comment further publicly on this internal personnel matter,” Angelakis’ statement said.
