Marblehead School Student Service Leadership Shakeup: Union Responds

MARBLEHEAD, MA — The Marblehead Education Association applauded the hiring of two behavior analysts and the formation of a Student Services Steering Committee following the departure of two student services leaders whom the union had called on to be dismissed in the aftermath of a student restraint incident at Glover Elementary School last month.

Marblehead Superintendent Theresa McGuinness told the school community that Students Services Director Paula Donnelly and Associate Director of Student Services Emily Dean and the district had "mutually agreed to end their employment relationship" in the days following an emotional School Committee meeting on Dec. 21 in which teachers, parents and supporters spoke of repeated cases of students roaming the hallways unsupervised and causing both destruction and physical harm at schools across the district, and directives they received from the administration to "just teach" or "ignore it" when they raised concerns.

The union said 97 percent of the district's 260 teachers, paras and tutors voted in favor of the "no confidence" vote and statement sent to Interim Superintendent Theresa McGuinness calling for the dismissal of Donnelly and Dean after four members of the faculty were placed on administrative leave pending an investigation into the restraint incident.

McGuinness had originally told the union that she was not seeking their dismissal in what she told the MEA was an effort to work through the issues with the union and provide stability at the school. But at the Dec. 21 School Committee meeting, McGuinness allowed that she would "reassess as new information becomes available to me as it has this evening."

"The Marblehead Education Association is pleased that two behavior analysts (BCBAs) have joined the staff and that the district formed a Student Services Steering Committee to address some of the concerns that educators have been raising about safety and learning conditions in our schools," the MEA said in a statement to Patch on Tuesday. "These issues affect every student and staff member.

"MEA members are committed to working with the entire Marblehead Public Schools Community to create the schools and learning conditions our students and staff deserve."

The MEA statement called on the four faculty members who were placed on administrative leave to be "returned to their positions immediately."

"Undoing that injustice will be an important step toward improving the culture and climate in our schools and will help establish trust as we move forward collaboratively to meet the needs of all our students," the MEA said.

(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.)