KP Union, District Still at Odds On Principal Search

The King Philip school district and the KP Teachers Association are still at an impasse regarding teacher input to the principal search process, according to Superintendent Elizabeth Zielinski.

Zielinski said Monday that the situation had not changed significantly.

"We're still at the same place," she said.

The matter was brought up at a KP School Committee meeting last week. The district had been looking to include two teachers as part of its principal search committee.

According to Zielinski, KP Principal Charles Flahive had sought faculty volunteers to help in the search.

"The union leadership said any teacher that sits on the committee represents the union, and needs to go through them," she said. "What we proposed was putting one person who volunteered and one person the union recommended on the committee."

She said that proposal was not accepted by the union, but the committee is still looking to move forward.

"We've sent out a lettter to each member with a proposed timeline," she said. "We had so many people who wanted to sit on this committee, we had to draw names."

According to Zielinski, there will still be some opportunity for teachers to provide input.

"The candidates are coming through the building anyways," she said. "There will be some opportunities for dialogue at that point."

A representative from the KPTA could not be reached for comment for this story.