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Date: 12/5/2023
EASTHAMPTON — With the status of a permanent superintendent still in limbo, the Easthampton School Committee began preliminary discussions about extending interim Superintendent Maureen Binienda’s contract for another year.
Megan Harvey, who served as the chair for the meeting with normal chair Cynthia Kwiecinski home but in attendance due to open meeting law, explained that the extension was part of the initial discussion in moving forward with an interim superintendent.
“When we made the contract, we talked about the possibility of extending it to a second year and kind of seeing how that would go, and the point is upon us here where it’s time to discuss if that is something we are interested in, and if there is interest from the superintendent side,” she said.
Kwiecinski acknowledged that the previous superintendent search was “rushed,” and she explained the typical process.
“I want people to understand that it was not our choice, and so I think it is important to talk about the process and how we usually do this. Superintendents usually give nine to 12 months’ notice that they intend to retire, they don’t have to give that notice. So, Dr. [Alison] LeClaire not giving that notice is not saying that she did anything wrong,” she said.
With a “typical” notice, Kwiecinski said newly hired superintendents have made their decision about where they are going by April or early May before they begin in July, so they have time to acquaint themselves with a new district.
“We basically had four months to get this done,” she said.
Kwiecinski said she thought it made sense to extend Binienda’s contract for another year, especially with two new School Committee members starting in January that will immediately have to start on the budget process and training.
“I believe it is in the best interest of the district to extend our superintendent’s position one more year and give our district the time to do the process in its best fashion,” she said. “I hope that tonight we talk about extending that contract one more year so that we can give new School Committee members time to understand the process, get involved in it from the very beginning and give the community time to get involved.”
Mayor Nicole LaChapelle explained that in order to extend Binienda’s contract, the district would need approval to sign two more waivers with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to extend Binienda in two, six-month increments. The deadline for the next waiver for July to December 2024 is May 1, 2024. LaChapelle also suggested creating an open document for the public during a workshop session, where members of the committee can air their thoughts about lessons learned from the previous search. With the extension of Binienda, LaChapelle said the next search would officially begin in October, after a request for proposals process, when the superintendent selection committee is established. Under this process, public interviews with finalists would begin in January before a decision is made shortly after the final interviews.
LaChapelle added that the district has a “strong argument to make” about requesting the waivers.
“I want DESE to understand that this is a statewide and national issue of what happened to this district, and that trust is very, very tense, and we may even need to have a fuller process to reinvent our superintendent search, but also to reach out to the community and actually give them a seat at the table,” she said.
When committee member Laura Scott asked about naming Binienda the permanent superintendent for another year, LaChapelle said it would be difficult to offer the position because of requirements for a full-time superintendent an interim superintendent may not have.
“If that person was a superintendent working under a waiver and needed a waiver to continue to work as a superintendent, it would be unwise for the School Committee to offer a full regular contract as superintendent to that candidate,” she said.
Binienda explained that the waivers were required because she was retired.
Scott said she was “uncomfortable” with the timing for the discussion.
“I am uncomfortable with the timing of this, I am uncomfortable with categorizing the city as having a lack of trust and a tenuous relationship. I think the results of the election were clear to me, I think there are two members that are about to join that should have a say in this decision,” she said.
Harvey said that she reached out to community members and staff throughout the district about thoughts on extending Binienda for another year.
“What I can tell you from those conversations is overwhelmingly the parents, the educators, the [Easthampton Educator’s Association], the administrators would very much like for us to seriously consider extending this contract for another year,” she said.
Harvey added that one large theme from the discussions was the “stability, the trust and the boost in morale” that has happened under Binienda’s leadership.
“If you don’t try to extend that contract, what you are going to have to do is immediately jump into a superintendent search because it’s a very short timeline, you’ve got to get going right now if you want to catch somebody for the next year,” she said. “All this does is give the new School Committee members and the community time to do things the way it’s usually done without compressing it into a short period of months.”
Scott said putting the discussion on the agenda was repeating the mistakes of the previous search.
“Don’t put something on the agenda with no opportunity for public input after they’ve heard this discussion, rush to vote on it tonight with this sense of urgency that I don’t believe is accurate. There is no reason that this can’t be postponed to December or January,” she said.
LaChapelle said she wanted to bring history forward and acknowledge the mistakes of the previous search.
“There is no history brought forward and I think that what the last superintendent search brought to the people who are serving, hold a lot of history and actual facts and momentum, and emotion that should be captured in a formal process. I feel like this committee has enough information to vote on a motion to explore a second year of an interim superintendent,” she said.
Harvey added that January would be too late to make a decision for the superintendent search.
“It is too late, it would be too rushed and that would be the exact timeline we were on before,” she said.
The matter was ultimately tabled to the committee’s next meeting on Dec. 12.