Marblehead Superintendent 'Early Termination' Meeting Abruptly Canceled

MARBLEHEAD, MA — A Marblehead School Committee meeting that's agenda included a vote on the possible ouster of Superintendent John Buckey was abruptly adjourned immediately after it began on Wednesday night based on what School Committee Chair Sarah Fox said was "a last-minute communication with counsel."

The meeting's agenda included a discussion and vote on the "early termination clause" in Buckey's contract that could have led to his dismissal. The School Committee met in an executive session on Friday to discuss the superintendent contract.

"I will note we are no longer going forward with this meeting tonight," Fox said to a packed Zoom audience at 7:31 p.m. on Wednesday, "due to last-minute communication between counsel, and I have been advised to adjourn the meeting immediately at 7:31.

"The meeting is adjourned at 7:31. Thank you."

While the School Committee gave little indication at its last open meeting the motivation behind a possible dismissal it is believed that it was exploring the means to at least discuss no longer moving forward with Buckey — who was on Wednesday's truncated Zoom session — as superintendent.

Where the scrapping of Wednesday's anticipated meeting leaves the School Committee and Buckey's future as superintendent was unclear as of the adjournment.

The move comes following a second straight failed tax override to fully fund the school district and a townwide vote in which former School Committee Chair Sarah Gold lost her seat on the committee while former Glover School Principal Brian Ota, whose contract was not renewed by Buckey last summer, and former School Committee member Jenn Schaeffner were elected to the committee.

Tom Mathers, who was appointed to the School Committee to fill out the remainder of a term this past winter, did not run for re-election this spring.

Buckey was at the forefront of the override pushes from the district the past two years as a means to deliver what he repeatedly called "an exemplary education for the students of Marblehead" and appeared to have the support of the former School Committee through that process.

However, he was graded as "proficient" during his most recent evaluation and appeared to clash with some committee members in the wake of the latest failed 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 $3 million school supplemental override requested in 2022 failed by nearly a two-to-one vote townwide after receiving support at town meeting. The general town override, which would have included the restoration of 33 district positions and programs, was voted down by a 51.5 percent-to-45.4 percent margin at the June 20 annual election.

Marblehead voters last passed a Proposition 2 1/2 general override in 2005.

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