School Committee to pick new supt. on Wed. night meeting

Pro-Tahiliani group demands to hold over decision for new board

By Neil Zolot

EVERETT – The number of candidates vying for the permanent Superintendent of Everett Public Schools position has been narrowed to two: current Interim Superintendent William Hart and Kimberly Fricker, the Asst. Supt. of the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District in California. The School Committee scheduled a meeting for Wednesday, December 20 for interviews of the two candidates and to pick a Superintendent.

“We had a bunch of people apply,” Chairman Michael Mangan said. “The consultant, Alma Advisory Group, screened everybody they felt could be interviewed and moved eight names forward to the Screening Committee. One dropped out and, out of the seven, the Screening Committee moved these two forward. All candidates were interviewed for 30-40 minutes. They were all okay, but the Screening Committee was excited to move these two forward.”

Citing privacy issues, he would not say if Superintendent Priya Tahiliani was ever a candidate or not, but added,” No was denied the chance to apply.”

Hart – hired in October as a temporary fill-in – hadn’t initially planned to apply. “There was some talk about if he’d be interested in putting his name in and he did,” Mangan said.

“I was recruited; the search firm contacted me,” Hart reported. “It’s not uncommon when they’re looking for a candidate that fits the profile.”

On the School Committee meeting agenda on Monday, December 18 was a Citizen Petition to delay any decision until next year when four new members will be seated: At-Large member Samantha Hurley, Margaret Cornelio (Ward 1), Joanna Garron (Ward 2) and Robin Babcock (Ward 4). A number of people spoke in favor of the idea, including some of the members-elect. “The process has not been transparent from its inception,” Babcock said, citing alleged violations of Open Meeting Law and information not being available in languages other than English.

“I have nothing against Bill Hart; if we didn’t have a Superintendent, I’d say hire him, but we should not go back to the good old boys’ network,” Cornelio (currently not a voting member) added. “We are elected to serve the public, not ourselves or for our own benefit. People want transparency and to be involved. It was an issue I heard campaigning.”

Cornelio – the mother of City Clerk and Election Commissioner Sergio Cornelio, who happens to be a defendant in an ongoing defamation lawsuit by Mayor Carlo DeMaria – is part of a group that is trying to bring back former School Supt. Tahiliani, who was placed on administrative leave following charges filed by 10 school employees with the city’s Human Resources Dept. last month. Cornelio, who won a School Committee seat in the last election, also received free political advertising during the 2021 election from disgraced Everett Leader Herald owner Matthew Philbin, whose corrupt publisher Joshua Resnek admitted to publishing false stories and fabricating lies about the mayor for years leading up to the 2021 election against challenger Fred Capone, who also happened to be on the Supt. Search Committee that picked Tahiliani over more qualified candidates.

“This wasn’t a rushed process,” Mangan reacted, which elicited the usual derisive comments from the audience. “In March the members decided they wanted to move on [from Tahiliani]. I was tasked to make sure we had a permanent Superintendent. The search for a consultant took a month and we started working with them in August. There were many candidates and they were vetted. They screened out candidates they didn’t think would fit in Everett.”

He also said material was provided in different languages and public meetings at two schools were sparsely attended.

Only Thomas Ciulla, a former Everett city councillor and current Parlin School custodian, spoke against delaying a decision. “Let’s appoint a Superintendent who will move the city forward,” he said. “Hart is an ideal candidate.”

In Committee discussion, At-Large member Samantha Lambert, also part of the pro-Tahiliani group, urged the others, “Do not go against the people,” referring to election results, as did many other speakers.

“Let the new members make the decision,” Ward 5 member Marcony Almeida-Barros agreed. “Half of my colleagues here won’t be here next year.”

Lambert also said she hasn’t had enough time to look at material on the two finalists. Lambert made a motion to vote on the question just after a motion by Ward 6 member Michael McLaughlin motioned to table it, prompting a dispute about how many motions could be heard at once.

Jousting between Lambert and Mangan, as well as comments interjected from the usual pro-Tahiliani group in the audience, led to a recess. “I don’t trust you,” Lambert told the retiring Mangan.

The now familiar coalition of Lambert, Ward 3 representative Jeanne Cristiano and Almeida-Barros voted against tabling the question. Almeida-Barros and Cristiano were the only members to vote on a motion for reconsideration. Only members on the winning side of a vote can motion for reconsideration, which was proposed by McLaughlin after it was suggested by Almeida-Barros. McLaughlin made the motion without hesitation, knowing the vote would be similar to the previous vote.

Reflecting on his tenure as a School Committee member, Mangan admitted, “It was very tenuous, but that’s what you sign up for. I love this community and respected everyone’s opinion whether I agreed with it or not.”

Tahiliani was one of the four final candidates named for the Melrose Supt. of Schools position last month until pulling her name out of consideration as her competition held far more experience and accreditation for the position.

When Tahiliani was originally hired by the Everett search committee for the superintendent’s job, she never had held a principal position of a school or held a Master’s degree in Education, which is generally the minimum requirements. It’s not known if Tahiliani has ever earned her Master’s degree in Ed., which she was, according to her resume, attempting from an online university.

  (James Mitchell contributed to this story.)