KP Principal Search Continues, But Union Dispute Causes Problems

The King Philip High School principal search is continuing, but an issue with the teachers union may mean the search committee could lack teacher input.

Current Principal Charles Flahive gave an update on the search at Monday night's KP School Committee meeting.

"We have two students, two school board members and we have 15 parents who have expressed interest," he said. "We still do not have any teachers selected yet, but the way we thought we'd do it — it did not quite work out that way."

District Superintendent Elizabeth Zielinski elaborated on the issue.

"I had asked the principal to seek out volunteers," she said. "We had teachers provide their names as potential volunteers, but the union felt, if there were teachers on the committee, they had to come through the union."

Zielinski said a solution was proposed in which the union would select one teacher, and the district another. She said the KPTA did not agree with that solution.

"The recommendation of the union president was not to have any teacher sit in on the committee," she said.

School committee member Patrick Francomano said the disagreement was lamentable.

"It's unfortunate that union leadership would take that tack," he said.

Flahive said the district is still looking to resolve the issue, but would move forward if there is a stalemate.

"We have some really nice parents, and it would be hard to chose just two," he said. "I could put four, five or eight of them on the committee."

Flahive was hired last year on an interim basis.

Zielinski had said earlier that, when she took the superintendent position last year, the school saw its principal and vice-principal leave. She said she was somewhat leery of bringing in a completely new principal, as she was new herself.

Therefore, she said, Flahive was chosen after a search process.