MARBLEHEAD — On the same day the School Committee was set to vote on the early-termination clause in Superintendent of Schools John Buckey’s contract Wednesday night, Committee member Alison Taylor said her 9-year-old son came across a disturbing object left at their home.
At that night’s School Committee meeting, which lasted less than a minute, Committee Chair Sarah Fox said that the vote would not take place.
“We are no longer going forward with this meeting tonight due to last-minute communication between counsel,” Fox said. “I have been advised to adjourn the meeting immediately at 7:31 p.m.”
Hours before, Taylor said her son found a red balloon with a clown’s face painted on it, covered in what appeared to be fake blood, tied to a flowerpot at the bottom of the stairs outside of their home.
When he saw the balloon, Taylor said her son asked if it was real blood.
“I signed up for this job knowing it wouldn’t necessarily make me friends,” Taylor said in an interview Thursday afternoon. “What is beyond disappointing is that something would be done that would, could potentially [emotionally] harm a child.”
She said that she made a first call to police at 4:43 p.m. on Wednesday, minutes after her son found the balloon.
She made the call just before she was leaving the house to drive her son to football practice. Police told her to call back when she was close to returning home, and again when she was at the house so they could send a cruiser there.
An officer arrived around 8:30 p.m., she said, and left the home sometime after 9 p.m. Taylor thanked the Police Department for its efforts.
“I am beyond grateful and appreciative for the Police Department in town, the officer who came to my house, as well as the dispatch officers and detective,” she said. “I’m grateful for their patience and suggestions on ensuring my home is more safe.”
According to Taylor, the balloon was taken into evidence.
“The balloon had markings resembling two eyes and a mustache, and no writing,” the Police Department wrote in a statement. “Detective Sgt. Sean Brady is conducting the follow-up investigation.”
In the statement, Police Chief Dennis King noted that the incident occurred on the same day as the School Committee meeting, and that “some people have inferred [Taylor’s] residence was targeted as a result of the meeting.”
“We have nothing at this time to confirm or deny that,” King said in the statement.
Taylor said that she is certain the balloon is related to the committee’s decision to schedule a vote to potentially terminate Buckey’s contract. She added that critics of the committee have repeatedly used the word “clown” to describe its members.
She hopes that the incident helps Marblehead residents learn to respect others’ opinions, and voice their own views without going to unnecessary and inappropriate lengths.
“I just hope we can learn from this as a community and understand that we’re going to have differences in opinion. That’s the beauty of the world we live in. That’s the beauty of America,” Taylor said. “As an adult, you can certainly say what you need to say to them, but to do or say anything that involves a child is reprehensible, I think.”
