Everett School Committee votes to conduct investigation into employee concerns

Supt. placed on paid administrative leave over allegations made by 10 school employees

By James Mitchell

In a Special Meeting on Monday, October 30, 2023, the Everett School Committee voted to conduct an independent outside investigation into concerns of employees of the Everett Public Schools, including allegations of hostile work environments. Attorney Robert Galvin, counsel for the Everett School Committee, appeared at the meeting and informed the members that he received a memo from the City of Everett’s Human Resources Director that included complaints from 10 Everett Public Schools employees that included a variety of allegations, including complaints of retaliatory and hostile work environments and allegations that the Human Resources Department for the School Department was not investigating complaints and issues raised by employees.

Superintendent Priya Tahiliani in her statement to the School Committee informed them that she herself had conducted investigations into employees accused of bad behaviors, including bullying and threatening colleagues. Alleged bad behavior by department leadership in the complaints shared with the School Committee is similar to the conduct that the Superintendent indicated that she determined needed to be addressed. The superintendent, through her own stated action, seems to agree that investigations of this type and manner should occur.

  Attorney Galvin informed the members that no determination has been made as to whether or not the complaints were substantiated. The School Committee was informed that the information and allegations shared warranted a full investigation. The School Committee members were reminded by Attorney Galvin that it has in the past investigated all complaints received and that outside investigators had been used when complaints involved employees at the school administration level.

The practice of placing school personnel on paid administrative leave is a measure that has been used by the Everett School Committee in the past. A paid administrative leave is not disciplinary in nature. This practice is one that has been used by other communities that have reviewed issues raised regarding the performance of superintendents in other cities and towns.

School Committee members raised concerns about whether the parties that were the subject of the complaints were afforded due process. Statements were made that the parties whose alleged conduct was at issue were being denied due process. Attorney Galvin informed the School Committee that he had contacted counsel that he knew had represented members of the school leadership team to inform them of the existence of the complaint but no response was received. As the Superintendent has filed multiple actions against the City of Everett and is represented by a lawyer, Attorney Galvin understands that the prudent way to contact someone represented by counsel is through that counsel. School Committee Chair Michael Mangan confirmed for his colleagues that he had seen Attorney Galvin’s written effort to contact counsel for members of the school leadership team.

The purpose of a hiring an independent outside investigator is to ensure that concerns and rights of all parties are honored. The investigation will include the process elements that many of the members alleged were not afforded to the employees whose alleged conduct was the subject of the complaints. The members who voted in support of the outside investigation by their votes ensured that all employees’ rights would be respected.

The Committee’s discussion included questions about whether it was a best practice to have discussion about the matters before them in an Executive Session. Attorney Galvin reminded the members that he had made a recommendation to hire an outside investigator to investigate the conduct of the previous superintendent in an open meeting.

A request for the School Committee to hire two independent investigators, one to work on behalf of the Everett School Committee and one to work on behalf of the Superintendent, was denied. Attorney Galvin informed the committee members that such a request had never been granted by a School Committee in the past and that it had never allowed an employee whose alleged conduct was the subject of a complaint to influence the selection of an outside investigator.

There was little mention during the majority of the discussion and debate at the meeting about the importance of respecting the rights of the employees who raised concerns or the obligation of the Everett Public Schools to create a positive work environment for its employees. The questions raised about the complaints focused on wanting to know more about the identities of the employees who made the complaints, and whether those employees had union representation and if they chose to go through that process. During last night’s meeting, the scrutiny given to the complaints and the interest in knowing the identity of the accusers was in sharp contrast to concerns and comments previously made by School Committee members who shared that they were afraid that employees wouldn’t come forward with concerns.

Despite the fact that the meeting did not include a public comment period, several emails from groups and organizations commenting on the subject matter of the meeting were read into the record by a School Committee member. Included in the emails read was an email sent by the Everett Teachers Association, the union representing a majority of Everett School Department employees, opposing any action by the School Committee to place the Superintendent on leave. One of the other emails that was read into the record was from a current Everett educator, who argued that what was in the best interest of the Everett Public Schools is not to conduct a full investigation into complaints made against current leadership personnel. The communication complained about the conduct of other leaders in Everett, but did not support any examination of the current complaints of a continuing culture, including fear of retaliation by current school leadership.

The City of Everett and the Everett Public Schools have been the subject of past inquiries by outside organizations due to allegations of not properly investigating and addressing concerns about alleged discriminatory, harassing, hostile and retaliatory conduct.

“My votes at Monday night’s meeting reflect the understanding about the importance of creating safe environments for employees to come forward with concerns after we reflected and learned from how prior issues within the Everett Public Schools were handled,” said Mayor Carlo DeMaria. “The decisions made by the Everett School Committee will provide for a process in which all parties involved will have the ability to have their issues and concerns heard in a thorough, fair, and impartial manner. Most importantly, it will send a message to employees that if they have the courage to come forward with their concerns, then we will show them the respect that they deserve to have those complaints reviewed.”