Interim Superintendent Stunned By Pain, Fear Of Concord Community

CONCORD, NH — Concord's new fill-in school superintendent will be participating in an open house Thursday in an effort to meet with members of the public. Franklyn Bass, who agreed to come out of retirement two weeks ago to assist guiding SAU 8 after the termination and resignation of former School Superintendent Terri Forsten, set up the event a few days after being introduced to the public at a school board meeting Nov. 4.

Bass, after sitting through nearly an hour of public testimony concerning the Primo "Howie" Leung investigation and the firing of Forsten and Concord High School Tom Sica, appeared stunned by what he heard. So much so that he diverged from his prepared remarks after hearing the stress anxiety of parents and students – noting that it made him "take a breath" and pause.

"The depth of your pain," he said, "your fear, your sense of abandonment, your wonder about what's going to happen next, your feeling of anger and frustration, and wondering where the leaders are, that are supposed to be here to help you … I felt that. I've read the (news) articles and I've talked to people but I never would have gotten the depth of what I heard tonight by not being here. So, I thank you for that and clearly, we have a lot of work to do."

Bass has been hired by the district to work three days a week, for 95 days, at a per diem of $750 per day. He was hired on Nov. 1. He has been working in education for many decades and has stints as a principal at Hollis-Brookline High School, superintendent in Pelham-Windham between 2007 to 2011, and a superintendent for the first interstate school district, Dresden, a dual district with Hanover and Norwich, Vermont, from 2011 to 2017.

Bass said the district needed to rebuild trust with the community and ensure that students felt safe in the school system. That will take the effort of everyone.

"All the policies in the world aren't going to do any good if you don't have teachers and students and community members who are willing to come forward and say, 'Hey, something's not right here and we need to address that,'" he said. "So, yes, things have gone in a way that I think are going to bring us back where we need to be. I think you're seeing and hearing from the board and from others about what's work needs to be done and has started to begin to be done. But, obviously, a lot more has to be done and, hopefully, I can help to bring that resolution forward, with you, and for you."

Bass said he preferred to work from the schools themselves and not from the office, unless he has previously arranged meetings. Being in the schools and schoolyards, meeting with students, teachers, and administrators, keeps him focused on the purpose of being a superintendent – educating all of the city's children. His main focus will be prompt communication between educators and families.

Also, Bass said he would be making a commitment to ensure that he responded to members of the school community, when they reached out to him, within 24 hours. It's important, he said, to get to people in a timely manner, and he found it frustrating himself when people didn't get back to him.

School officials need to know what is going on, whether there are problems, so they can fix problems as they arise, Bass aid. Commonsense and sound judgment needed to be administered when dealing with staff and student issues, he added.

"The staff and the student body are the lifeblood of our schools," Bass said. "My goal is to develop a perfect, pervasive culture of caring, consideration, and collaboration whereby there is an inveterate understanding on the part of both teachers and students that those responsible for their safety and welfare know who they are, as all individual students, care about them, and esteem them to become valued, contributing members of our school community. If you can do that, in each and every classroom, in each and every building, then you begin build back the trust, the faith, and the understanding that our students and staff with have, in the leadership here."

Bass, according to press reports online, is no stranger to dealing with difficult issues inside school districts – not unlike some of the chaos that is engulfing the Concord School District.

When Bass was leading SAU 70, the principal of the Bernice Ray School, Matthew Laramie, was involved in misusing thousands of dollars of the district's money between 2014 and 2016. When Laramie's resignation was first reported, Bass said it was personal reasons and reportedly told the Valley News that he "left on good terms" and offered him support in future endeavors. Two months later, it was revealed that Laramie had improperly charged almost $34,000 in professional development expenses and made unauthorized charges on a school credit card, after a check of receipts and an audit. Bass reportedly told the newspaper that due to an ongoing investigation, the alleged misconduct couldn't be revealed at the time of the resignation announcement.

About a month later, Laramie was arrested after a prostitution sting in nearby Canaan, along with two other men. He forfeited his education credential in October 2016.

Also while at SAU 70, a lawsuit was filed against the district, accusing it of not properly addressing bullying issues – including sexual harassment against a 15-year-old boy, where perpetrators called him "Little D," drew genitalia on his boots, attacked him on social media, and even an assault, where the boy's head was slammed into the corner of a piano. The parents of the boy requested to have him assigned to another school and Bass agreed that it was the best solution.

Bass, according to the Lowell Sun, also reportedly had issues with two school board members while leading the then-Windham-Pelham school district in 2008 (they are now separate districts). After seven months on the job, he applied for a new job in Manchester, citing a hostile work environment as his reason for wanting to leave. Later, after the community backed Bass, the board members and superintendent ironed out their differences, according to the report from 2010.

Another issue in Windham was the placement of Cherrie Fulton, a principal at the Center School, on administrative leave that led to her resigning after about a month into the job. The previous year, she was the assistant principal at the school – but no one ever found out why she was placed on leave or resigned. The district agreed to pay Fulton a $40,000 settlement to avoid a lawsuit. She has been an assistant principal and principal in Nashua since 2013.

The open house with Bass will be held from 5 and 6:30 p.m. on Thursday at the Abbot-Downing Elementary School, 152 South St. in Concord, in the school's cafetorium. Refreshments will be served.

PREVIOUS PATCH COVERAGE:

• School Board Clarifies 'Letter Of Reference' For Forsten, Sica
• Concord Teacher-Student Rape Case Leads To Second SAU 8 Dismissal
• Embattled Concord School Super Terminated By Board Of Education
• Update: Leadership Changes Coming To Concord School District
• Education Department Revokes Accused Rapist's Teaching Credential
• Concord High School Basketball Coach Abruptly Resigns
• Concord High Principal Did Not Influence Investigation: Attorney
• Embattled Concord Principal Led Staff Remotely While On Leave
• Concord School District Is Burning Through Its FY20 Legal Funding
• Bow High School Coach Suspended, Targeted By Anonymous Mailer
• Concord City Council Issues Statement About Leung Case, Schools
• Former Rundlett Assistant Principal Not Credentialed For 12 Years
• Leung Report Release Could Be Embarrassing, Humiliating: Attorney
• Parents To Concord School Board: Fire Assistant Superintendent
• Mom Accuses Concord Teacher Of Trying To Groom Daughter In 2011
• Concord School District To Conduct Full Staff Credentialing Audit
• Second Concord School Employee Found Not To Be Credentialed
• Credentialing Of Concord's Acting School Super Could Take Months
• Concord Police Chief Says He'd Like To See School Investigation
• Acting Concord School Superintendent Not Credentialed With NH DOE
• Concord Superintendent Forsten, Principal Sica Placed On Leave
• Concord Board Of Education Considering Personnel 'Next Steps'
• Concord Board Of Education Members Eyeing Investigative Report
• Parents, Students Vent About Issues With Concord School District
• Concord School Board To Update Public About Investigation Tuesday
• Concord School Superintendent: Letter To Staff 'A Serious Error'
• Petition To Remove Officials From Concord Schools Cracks 2,000
• Concord School Board Holds Emergency Meeting Sunday With Counsel
• Online Petition Launched To Have Concord School Officials Removed
• Concord Superintendent Lashes Out At Media Coverage Of District
• Concord School Board To Revise 'Professional Expectations' Policy
• Concord High School Principal Takes A Leave Of Absence
• Labrie's Former Counsel Not Hired To Probe Teacher Rape Case
• Concord School Board Opens New Investigation Into Leung Rape Case
• How A Distinguished Concord Teacher Became A Student Rape Suspect
• Students Saw Concord Teacher Kiss, Hug Another Student: Docs
• Should The Concord School District Have Responded Faster To Case?
• NH Teacher Held Without Bail After Bay State Arraignment
• Concord Teacher Accused Of Raping Student In Newton, MA
• Distinguished Educators for 2012

Got a news tip? Send it to Tony Schinella at tony.schinella@patch.com.

View more videos at https://www.youtube.com/user/tonyschinella.