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Imagine you’re a kindergartner, you’ve just made a lot of nice friends, but then you’re suddenly kicked to another school and separated from all your new friends.
“I would hate for that to happen to me and I think you guys would, too,” sixth-grader Christopher Collins told the Winchester School Committee during its public comment segment on April 9. “I would try and fight it, but I’d be scared so I would need people like these to help me and I’d need people like you to vote to help me.”
Collins was just one of about 100 Muraco Elementary School supporters who packed the meeting to implore Superintendent Dr. Frank Hackett and the School Committee to think more carefully, vet more seriously and communicate more fully any ideas they have for reorganizing their school before announcing it publicly — and then taking it back.
One day prior
On April 8, Muraco’s Kindergarten and first-grade teachers learned of a plan to merge their classes into the Lynch Elementary School in what Kindergarten teacher Melissa Testa called the hardest meeting of her 32-year career.
Muraco School Adjustment Counselor Kelly Cunha said the rest of the staff got the news Thursday morning, April 9 and were told the plan was irreversible. But just hours before the 5:30 p.m. School Committee meeting, Hackett did just that, reversed the decision.
In an apology issued around 5 p.m., Hackett said he understood the frustration and confusion caused by the plan and after re-evaluation, they withdrew it. He also said he took full responsibility for the upset the plan caused.
Parents and educators were not, however, in a forgiving mood.
The fallout
Cunha said the contradiction matters.
“It erodes trust,” she said. “It calls into question the transparency and credibility of leadership, and it leaves staff and families wondering, was this truly a thoughtful, student centered decision, or one made hastily, without full consideration of its impact?”
Decisions that affect children and school communities should be grounded in care, clarity and collaboration and not come with emotional whiplash, she said.
“Muraco continues to feel like a place where difficult decisions land first and hardest,” Cunha said. “And more importantly, our students feel the effects of it. They and we deserve better than this process.”
A roller coaster of emotions was how Testa described last Thursday. She said she understands the district is under a lot of financial pressure due to the failed override, but asked, “As you move forward, please be careful of the confusion, and please be present as you make future decisions.”
An $11.5 million Proposition 2 ½ override that would have benefited the schools significantly had it passed, failed at the ballot box on March 21, leaving the School Committee with the task of cutting $3.3 million from its budget.
Muraco School parent Hillary Eaton was upset that she heard the rumor of the merger from her third grader before the announcement hit her inbox.
“You should not have to hear about stuff like this from your kid,” she said, adding the news made her child very anxious. “You guys hurt kids and they’re not going to forget that.”
Eaton said whatever happened, however it happened, it all happened poorly and families deserved an apology, not just from Hackett, but from all involved. She also wondered where the non-Muraco School parents were. Roughly six people raised their hands when she called out the question.
Eaton said Muraco parents have shown up and voted to support every school in the district being built or renovated.
“And not just being built nice, but like being built really nice while Muraco doesn’t have [expletive] air conditioning,” she added.
David Leech also noted the support the Muraco neighborhood has given, consistently backing overrides for each school as well as the March override. He also told committee members that the residents and staffers gathered at the meeting were not there to be difficult, they were there to be heard.
Leech asked that the School Committee be transparent with them, answer their questions and “treat this community as a whole partner.”
Like Eaton, Muraco parent Shamus Brady accused the committee of hurting kids.
“You adults did that and that’s forever,” he said.
His wife, Select Board Chair Anthea Brady, said she heard about the merger and that the Muraco may be closing via a second hand text. She called the communications failure embarrassing.
Anthea Brady asked that difficult decisions not be surprises, but made thoughtfully, collaboratively and well vetted within the community.
Fiona Adler simply spoke about the magic of the Muraco School and the culture of kindness and curiosity and that it’s not fair to make the youngest students bear the consequences of budget decisions.
“Don’t dismantle an entire community and culture that is working so well for our youngest learners,” she said.
I’m sorry
Hackett called the gaffe a mistake with good intentions and said he owns it fully.
“I also just want to be super clear, there isn’t anybody else around this table but me that owns that decision,” he said. “If you want to be angry, I am the person to be angry with.”
Hackett said he’s been feeling the pressure of having 12-15 non-professional status teachers in the schools that don’t know if they’ll have a job at the end of the school year because they don’t have a budget yet.
But he also said he and the School Committee are firmly committed to not only keeping the Muraco School open, despite rumors, but also supporting the feasibility study for a new or rebuilt school.
“So while your passion is needed, just understand that this group is with you,” Hackett said. “I am with you. My administration is with you, but we’ve got to figure out how to get there.”
Chris Stevens is an award-winning journalist who has spent 25 years chasing, editing and photographing stories on the North Shore. She is the co-founder and managing editor of Gotta Know Medford.
