SAUGUS — Four female administrators have left the town’s public schools in recent months, a wave of departures that comes at a moment of flux for the district as Superintendent of Schools Erin McMahon remains on paid administrative leave.
Each of the administrators — Deputy Superintendent Margo Ferrick, Early College Director Jackie Corbaci, Communications Manager Jen Lefferts, and Human Resources Manager Adriane Dillon-Talbot — joined the district during McMahon’s tenure. A review of personnel records provided by the district showed that none of the posts, all of which are housed in the central office, were filled prior to McMahon assuming the superintendency in July 2021.
The four positions were not listed in personnel records before that month and some of them, such as communications manager and deputy superintendent, did not exist. Two positions that did not exist prior to McMahon’s tenure, chief of staff and state reporting and grants manager, remain filled by Tom D’Amario and Kathleen Maffeo, respectively. Both Corbaci and Lefferts’ positions were grant-funded.
School Committee Chair Vincent Serino attributed the departures to promotions, noting that Ferrick left Saugus to take up the superintendent position in Georgetown. He also said that Dillon-Talbot returned to the private sector. Serino said “the other girl” also received a promotion, though it is unclear whether he was referencing Corbaci or Lefferts. Committee member Leigh Gerow said Corbaci chose to make a “career advancement.”
Corbaci did not return a request for comment, and Dillon-Talbot could not be reached for comment. Ferrick, in a statement earlier this year, called her colleagues “wonderful and very supportive.”
Lefferts declined to comment.
Corbaci — who was hired ahead of the 2022-23 school year — returned to Chelsea Public Schools, where she worked for more than a decade prior to getting the Saugus job. On her LinkedIn, Corbaci lists experience as an early-college counselor in Chelsea, and on the Chelsea Public Schools website, she is now listed as an early-college transition counselor. In Saugus, Corbaci oversaw the early-college program.
Lefferts does not appear to have accepted another position following her departure, according to her LinkedIn profile, which lists her as a self-employed communications consultant.
Gerow, the only woman actively serving on the School Committee, said she was unaware of any of the departures other than that of Ferrick. When an Item reporter provided Gerow, who joined the committee following the resignation of former Chair Tom Whittredge, with the full list, she said she did not find the departures “out of the ordinary.”
“Much like other districts in Massachusetts, the summer is often a time of transition within a school department,” she said. “Last year, for example, we had a well-respected principal step down and return to teaching.”
“I would like to highlight that I am proud to recognize that the large percentage of our invaluable administrative team in our central office are all women,” Gerow added. “It saddens me that attention is being paid to employees who have chosen to move on, versus the hard-working administrative and teaching team we have in place who are readying our schools for a successful opening fall of 2023.”
Corbaci, Dillon-Talbot, Ferrick, and Lefferts were all hired during McMahon’s tenure, part of an expansion of the central-office staff during that period. McMahon, the first woman to serve as superintendent of schools in Saugus, has faced criticism for the expansion, particularly amidst a contentious budget process. The School Committee slashed her proposed budget by $1.2 million in the weeks after McMahon took leave.
Attorney Michael Long, who is representing McMahon, said the committee essentially forced her to take a leave of absence from the schools before eventually placing her on leave when she indicated she planned to return. With the recent departures, the district’s website lists 17 people comprising the central-office staff — the same number of people from June 2021, prior to McMahon’s tenure beginning.
Long said the School Committee has declined to investigate any of what he dubbed “vague and unspecified concerns” about her performance brought to its attention. Long said there is little reason why an investigation into McMahon’s conduct should have dragged on for more than six months — with no end in sight.
“We sincerely hope this delay is not due to incompetence, political motivations, punishment for advocating the expenditure of funds for Saugus’ kids, or an attempt to discriminate against the first female superintendent in Saugus’ history,” he said in an emailed statement. “We also hope the public will begin asking questions about the legal expenses tied to this ‘investigation’ and demanding answers.”
Taken together, the departures and the treatment of McMahon could paint a dreary picture of female representation at the highest levels of the Saugus Public Schools.
A 2021 report from the Rennie Center for Education Research and Policy, a Boston-based educational consultant, examining the power gap in Massachusetts K-12 education found Saugus underperformed peer districts in terms of placing women in positions of power. In fact, the district was last in the report’s leadership ranking of the 180 districts in the state with 1,500 or more students, receiving a score of 17.4 out of 100.
At the time of the report, Saugus had never had a woman serve as superintendent, assistant superintendent, or high-school principal. To date, Saugus has not had a woman serve as the district’s high-school principal, a position commonly seen as a pathway to the superintendency.
But, the executive-level leadership in the district is primarily made up of women. Dawn Trainor, Pola Andrews, and Susan Terban serve as executive directors of pupil personnel; finance and administration; and curriculum, respectively. All three women were in their current posts before McMahon was hired.
A request for comment from the district sent to Lefferts prior to her departure went unanswered. Hashem, who has repeatedly refused to speak with reporters since he was named acting superintendent, did not return multiple requests for comment.
