SAUGUS — In the wake of the arrest of a 52-year-old middle school teacher late last month, the union representing the town’s teachers has agreed to reinstate parent-teacher conferences at the secondary level for the coming school year.
Roxanne Plaskon, a science teacher at the school, is facing a charge of possession of a Class A substance for allegedly having fentanyl with her on school grounds. Her arrest prompted a parent outcry, particularly from those who had students in Plaskon’s class, accusing school administrators of ignoring warning signs and parent concerns.
Parent-teacher conferences at the secondary school level — grades 6 through 12 — had been negotiated out of the Saugus Educators’ Association’s contract during negotiations between the union and the School Committee. But, Superintendent of Schools Michael Hashem said the meetings had been reinstated in the wake of Plaskon’s arrest.
Committee Chair Vincent Serino said the committee decided to prioritize reinstating the conferences after hearing from parents, who told members they wanted the meetings to see how their students were progressing. The conferences are the “best communication you can have with your student’s teacher,” he added.
School Committee Vice Chair Tom Whittredge encouraged parents to attend the conferences.
“When they got rid of the parent-teacher conferences, it’s because no one showed up,” he said, noting he was at times the only parent to show up for his son’s class. “We need more parent involvement.”
Serino said the union felt participation in the conferences “wasn’t where it should be,” but after eliminating the meetings, its members saw the value of sitting down with parents.
SEA President Bill Palmerini did not return a request for comment on the decision to restart the conferences.
Reinstating the conferences is not the only step taken by the district after the arrest, which clearly shook some parents’ confidence in the committee and administration.
Hashem said in the immediate aftermath of the arrest, administrators at the Middle/High School Complex met with students. Since then, administrators sent out a newsletter to parents, students were able to have conversations with what Hashem dubbed “trusted adults” as part of the school’s annual SBIRT screening, and the middle school student support teams met with students in small groups with counselors to ensure they felt safe and comfortable in the building.
More efforts are planned after students return from February vacation, Hashem said, including a presentation led by Middle/High School Principal Brendon Sullivan and a guest speaker who is an expert on drug awareness and drug use.
“He didn’t rush, and he wanted to do it right,” Hashem said of Sullivan.
The district has also begun taking a look at its hiring strategies, and administrators plan to be more active and aggressive in recruiting efforts. Following the approval of the most recent contract with the SEA, the School Committee said it hoped increased starting pay could draw more high-quality candidates to the district.
Hashem said Saugus school officials would be attending job fairs and planned to create a brochure as part of an effort to “proactively [market] Saugus as a place to work.”
He also noted that the district has a crisis intervention and emergency management plan in effect, with each building having its own addendum. As part of that plan, in the wake of any crisis, school leaders debrief on how the incident was handled and how it could have been handled better.
Hashem recalled an instance from his tenure as principal of Saugus High when a student suffered a medical emergency and school administrators did not lock down the building. Following the incident, officials determined they should have done so to keep the hallways clear and aid in the response.
