Survey Reveals 'Fear Based Managing Style' at Marlborough's Advanced Math & Science Academy

An overview of results of a study conducted with the employees of the Advanced Math & Science Academy in Marlborough was shared publicly with the board of trustees recently, and those results largely negative, as reported in the Boston Globe.

The survey was conducted by Dianna Hammer of Connect to Greatness, interviewing 55 employees at the school. Eight percent described the morale as high, and man described a culture of intimidation at the hands of then-executive director John Brucato, said the Globe. Teachers say they were “bullied into silence.”

Brucato’s position is now executive director of development. Hammer had been hired to get to the root of problems “undermining the administration’s credibility, after a year of turmoil during which an award-winning teacher resigned, the teachers voted to join a union, and bad morale created a difficult working environment,” said the Globe

The Advanced Math & Science Academy (AMSA) is a seven-year, comprehensive public charter school educating students in grades 6-12. In January of 2010, The Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education renewed the public school charter of the Advanced Math and Science Academy.