Burlington Starts Process To Replace Ousted Special Ed Director

BURLINGTON, MA -- Burlington Public Schools will host an informational meeting next week to explain the process for hiring a new special education director to parents. The meeting will be Tuesday, February 13 at 7 pm in the Marshall Simonds Middle School and will be led by Deborah Clark, the director of the Burlington Early Childhood Center and chair of the hiring committee.

The meeting will also be an opportunity for parents to meet Pat Cosgrove, who is serving as interim director of the program. Cosgrove has taken over for Robert McArdle, who had been serving as the interim director after Louise D'Amato resigned the position in November.

D'Amato is being paid by the school system through the end of the fiscal year. D'Amato will also receive 51.33 in unused vacation days worth $29,381.24 and will be eligible to file for state unemployment benefits, according to a copy of her separation agreement Burlington Patch obtained from the school system under the state public records law.

In addition, the district was paying McArdle $150 per hour -- or $850 per day -- to serve as acting director of the program. McArdle is the retired director of the Woburn Special Education Program and worked for the Walker Partnership. He has held similar interim posts in recent years, including an interim director's post in Andover in 2015 and the Merrimack Special Education Collaborative in 2011.

D'Amato was placed on leave in early October and resigned November 13. Her annual salary, based on her vacation pay, works out to about $143,000 annually. The agreement said she will have no formal duties for the remainder of the school year. The agreement also allows D'Amato to accept a new position while being paid by the district.

The agreement provides for a reference letter from Superintendent Eric Conti and allows D'Amato to list other Burlington Schools employees as references. The agreement includes a non-disparagement clause and a confidentiality clause.

"If additional inquiries are made by staff or parents, the School District will only state there has been a 'mutual decision and agreement to separate employment'," the agreement said.

Superintendent Eric Conti previously said the district will have no further comment on the matter.

More on this story:

• Burlington To Pay Ex-Special Ed Director Through End Of June (12/11/2017)
• Burlington Special Education Director Resigns (11/21/2017)
• Questions Remain Over Burlington Special Ed Director's Leave(11/20/2017)
• Burlington Parents Ask For Explanation On Special Ed Director's Unexplained Leave (10/13/2017)
• Burlington Special Education Director On Unexplained Leave(10/11/2017)

Subscribe to Burlington Patch for more local news and real-time alerts.

Patch file photo.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).