MARBLEHEAD — An independent investigator will be procured by interim Superintendent John Robidoux by July 19 to determine the merit of internal discrimination allegations between district personnel.
The School Committee granted permission to Robidoux in a vote, allotting $25,000 toward the initiative.
In an email to the district, former interim Superintendent Theresa McGuinness said the district “attempted to investigate the claims internally, but the investigators themselves have been subjected to accusations of being conflicted.”
Committee Chair Jenn Schaeffner said although she is in favor of this motion and is “thankful that we’re going to move forward with this and that we’re going to have our superintendent be leading this,” she heard “very serious” concerns from constituents at the last School Committee meeting.
She said the concerns revolved around the school’s curriculum and anti-Semitism within the district.
“I feel that there is more work to do here besides just this investigation,” she said.
Schaeffner said one of the options the board should consider is hiring a task force to “embrace” the members of the Jewish community as well as the “entire community in Marblehead that is affected by this.”
She added the School Committee should “think about a lot of the messages that we heard last week and the steps that we can take within our district to focus on this particular issue.”
Committee member Al Williams said he hopes that through the investigation the board can receive recommendations on “a path forward,” as well as a recommendation on how “we lessen the likelihood of this happening in the future.”
Schaeffner agreed with Williams and said this investigation is an opportunity “to make change in our district, in our town, in our community, and to model for other districts that are going through similar situations.”
