Marblehead Superintendent John Buckey Out Amid School Committee Clash

MARBLEHEAD, MA — The weeks-long "early termination" saga involving the Marblehead School Committee and estranged Superintendent John Buckey came to an apparent conclusion on Wednesday with what the School Committee called "an acceptable agreement resulting in his resignation" after several days of negotiation.

School Committee Chair Sarah Fox issued the statement announcing the separation on behalf of the Committee early Wednesday afternoon.

"Dr. Buckey deeply appreciates the opportunity to have served his community, and the Marblehead Public School Committee thanks Dr. Buckey for his three-plus years of service," the statement said. "The Committee wishes him the best as he pursues other opportunities in the field of education."

The disconnect between Buckey and the newly elected School Committee escalated in recent weeks following the failure of a townwide tax override vote that would have restored 33 positions and programs Buckey had designated to be cut, and an overhaul of the Committee with challengers Jennifer Schaeffner and Brian Ota elected, former Chair Sarah Gold voted out of the office and interim Committee member Thomas Mathers deciding not to run for re-election.

Buckey in a statement following the failed vote said that he and many at the schools were "deeply disappointed" and had "great concerns about the significant impact it will have on students, families and staff in our district."

"Without these resources," he said, "we have no choice but to make the very difficult reductions we have outlined throughout this process."

The School Committee never publicly discussed the reasons for wanting Buckey out using an "early termination" clause in his contract — which had been extended through 2025 overall in 2021 — but held two executive sessions closed to the public with agenda items related to discussing his potential departure.

A scheduled open meeting that drew more than 250 viewers to its Zoom stream last Wednesday was adjourned after one minute following what Fox called "a last-minute communication with counsel" that advised her to immediately adjourn the meeting after it was opened.

The School Committee met in an executive session on Monday morning with the single agenda item being: "Conduct strategy sessions in preparation for negotiation with non-union members (Superintendent)."

This all came as Marblehead Police Chief Dennis King reported the discovery of a "suspicious" balloon with markings on it tied to the home of a Marblehead School Committee member's house during the day of last week's meeting. King said the balloon had two eyes and a mustache drawn on it.

Buckey was graded as "proficient" during his most recent evaluation days before the general tax override to restore the 33 district positions — the second proposed school override in two years — failed the townwide vote.

He appeared to clash with some committee members in the wake of the latest failed override vote when he said the district should not look for other means to restore positions that were said to be on the chopping block should the override not pass.

He argued that would do a disservice to those who made decisions based on what they were told the realities would be in the case of a failed vote. The School Committee at its final June meeting did vote to restore freshman-level sports with the help of an increase in user fees but did not at the time address any other cut positions despite what was described as an "unexpected surplus" of about $ 500,000 to end the school year.

Upon request of the School Committee, Buckey did present a priority list of which positions should be restored first should any be brought back — but reiterated his opposition to going down that road given the failed override vote.

"We still don't recommend reinstating any of these," Buckey said on July 6, "because when people look at the list they are like: 'Why are you prioritizing that over something else?' And there are lots that go into those conversations. When we made these cuts we said it was a very emotional process."

The night that his evaluation was publicly approved unanimously, Buckey also read a statement saying that his salary should be frozen for the next year given the town's financial predicament but gave no indication that he was considering a resignation or expected to be relieved of his duties should the override fail to pass.

Buckey was present on the Zoom call for last week's one-minute meeting but has not publicly addressed any acrimony with the current iteration of the School Committee.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)