School Committee votes not to extend superintendent’s contract; forms ad hoc sub-committee

  The School Committee voted not to extend the superintendent’s contract to 2026 during their meeting on Tuesday at Everett High School.

  “I love my job,” Superintendent of Schools Priya Tahiliani said. “I am respectfully requesting that you vote tonight to approve my extension.”

  Tahiliani was asking to extend a current contract to June 30, 2026. Her current contract ends on Feb. 28, 2024, but Tahiliani requested the School Committee to vote on a contract extension Tuesday evening despite the School Committee’s December 1, 2022, deadline should they decide to renegotiate. The contract states they need to make a decision before or by December of this year. The committee will develop an ad hoc superintendent sub-committee consisting of three School Committee members.

  Ward 2 School Committee member Jason Marcus suggested that they have a lot of time, as it would extend to February 2024 otherwise.

  “Time is subjective,” Tahiliani replied to Marcus. “If it doesn’t go through, next year would be my last full year in this role.”

  Tahiliani added she doesn’t believe it’s too soon and she doesn’t want to start a year that she can’t finish. In regards to a string of incidents within the school district, Tahiliani said she will have a security hiring update and provide short- and long-term solutions at the July School Committee meeting that would require a collaborative effort.

  Ward 6 School Committee Member and Vice Chairperson Michael McLaughlin said it’s a time element for him, not extending the contract per se. “It wouldn’t add costs to the School Committee but would extend costs to the school system,” McLaughlin said. “And that’s okay, but there is a process and a timeline in place when asked to do such.”

  He was quick to note it wasn’t personal against Tahiliani but that he wanted to refer the piece back to sponsor. However, since they didn’t have a two-thirds majority vote, they continued discussion.

  Ward 5 School Committee Member Marcony Almeida-Barros was in favor of extending her contract on Tuesday.“She has faced unprecedented challenges – one was a pandemic that tried to close the school [her] first or second week on the job,” Barros said. “She found illegal surveillance cameras in her office; the criminal is not in jail yet since the FBI hasn’t finished their investigation.”

  School Committee Member At Large Samantha Lambert was also in favor of extending her contract this week. She said Tahiliani has implemented programs that have taken into account students’ and familial voices.

  Ward 4 School Committee Member Michael Mangan, who said he’s in the middle, has additional questions and wanted to ask them before deciding. “I think she’s done a fabulous job in the six months that I’ve been here,” Mangan said. “I’m not willing to kill it, but in good conscience, I’m not willing to take a solid vote tonight.”

  Ward 3 School Committee Member and Chairperson Jeanne Cristiano, who noted she had a different opinion five months ago, asked the committee to give her an extension and focus on what’s important – teaching children.