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Date: 4/24/2023
EASTHAMPTON — In the wake of Ludlow Director of Curriculum and Instruction Erica Faginski-Stark’s decision to withdraw from the Easthampton superintendent position, Reminder Publishing spoke with West Springfield interim superintendent and first candidate for the position, Vito Perrone, about the entire process and what his plans were now.
Perrone clarified that in the email he sent that included “ladies,” he had accepted the salary at $151,000 but had requested four additional vacation days for a total of 30 and a sick bank of 40 days, accounting for the time he had previously worked as the principal at Easthampton High School. He also requested a 3% cost of living adjustment for the second and third years of the contract.
“This was a request, and I basically said because the salary is non-negotiable, as I was told at 12:15 at night when they sent a cop to my house, I would like to make three requests. I go to work, I accrued days, so I was looking for a sick bank, which is not unheard of in contract negotiations,” he said.
He added that when former Easthampton Superintendent Debbie Carter went away to another district before coming back to be the superintendent, she requested a sick bank as well.
Perrone said he was not afforded an opportunity to discuss any of his requests with the committee.
“The bottom line is I never had an opportunity to negotiate those things, I never had an opportunity to negotiate my salary. When I went to the executive session, I hopped on the executive session and the chair said, ‘Dr. Perrone would you mind hopping off so we can discuss a few things?’” he said.
Forty-five minutes after being asked to exit the executive session, Perrone said he was brought back and told his offer was being rescinded because of his use of the word “ladies.” He said that he apologized and explained that “when I grew up, ladies was a term of respect, I didn’t mean any disrespect.”
Perrone added that the offer was rescinded before he could offer an apology and Easthampton Mayor Nicole LaChapelle said she switched her vote. He explained that the committee said that the reasoning for the rescinding of his offer was not going to be made public.
“They said, ‘Don’t worry this is an executive session so that information’s not going to be made public because we are just going to say that the negotiations were unsuccessful, and we weren’t able to come to a contract.’ But that was disingenuous, it wasn’t true, because what they said was it’s a microaggression,” Perrone said.
Perrone added that he chose to speak because the situation was not about failed negotiations.
“I would rather my story is public, than the community of Easthampton think this is about money because it’s not about the money. They offered me $14,000 less than what I’m making now, and I took the job. This was not about failed negotiations; at no point did we negotiate. This is about my use of the term ladies and the chair of the committee taking that as an offense, and that’s all they told me,” he said.
Perrone also clarified that he sent the email with his requests the day before the executive session meeting where the offer was rescinded and did not have the opportunity to apologize for his use of the word “ladies.”
“If the use of ladies is inappropriate, can we talk about that? Can we have a conversation, some civil discourse about that? In this instance I was not allowed that, I was not afforded my due process,” he said. “There was no opportunity for discussion, it was ‘you said this, this is a microaggression, we are rescinding our offer, that’s it.’”
Since the decision to rescind his offer has been made and Faginski-Stark has withdrawn from consideration, Perrone said his lawyer has made attempts to contact the committee but has heard nothing back, other than the notice that the committee voted not to reenter negotiations with him at its April 10 meeting.
“On multiple occasions my lawyer has reached out saying I’m still willing to talk, to have a discussion around what happened is there a way we can move positively, and there’s been no response,” he said.
Regardless of what has happened, Perrone said the people of Easthampton are “the ones that matter the most to me.”
“Part of this which gets my heart the most is the support I’ve received from the people of Easthampton, the things that they’re saying, the things that they’re doing, the rallies they’ve organized, the posts that kids that when I was principal who are now in their 20s are saying about me and how I had a positive impact on their lives,” he said. “That stuff touches my heart.”
Perrone added that it is hard for him to turn his back on Easthampton.
“It’s not about this issue at the School Committee level, it’s about the kids, it’s about the teachers, it’s about the schools and that’s what makes me want to be in Easthampton,” he said. “I’m torn because I do want to be the superintendent of Easthampton and I do love the community of Easthampton, but I have to be more measured because of what happened and how it happened, and what they’re saying.”
Perrone also decried the threats made against the School Committee as a result of the superintendent search.
“This never should have gotten there, this has to stop, we have to be able to have civil discourse, we have to be able to have reasonable conversations about things when we disagree. Unfortunately, when it gets out there so public, then those who are solely against it and those who are solely for it feel like they need to say something, and the fact that those people were threatened and those families were afraid was very troubling,” he said.
While he was not considered a finalist for the superintendent position in West Springfield, Perrone discussed the situation.
“I went through the process, but there’s a lot of people that are interested in positions now, there’s a lot of competent and quality individuals, and as interim I could not be happier for the decision that was made for the next superintendent, who starts May 1,” he said.
Perrone spoke highly of incoming Superintendent Stefania Raschilla.
“Stefania Raschilla is an amazingly talented, intelligent, competent instructional leader. She was the finalist that got the job and I have nothing but respect for that,” he said.
Despite not being selected in West Springfield, he jumped at the opportunity once the Easthampton job opened up.
“When the position opened in Easthampton, that was huge for me because that was an opportunity to go back where I had been for six years, it was an opportunity to be close to my home in Westhampton, the community was reaching out to me, for me I’ve always been one to think about a growth mindset, so I used the process in West Springfield as an experience to bring my A game to the interview process in Easthampton,” he said.
Perrone added that he has no regrets and there was no “insidious plot” against him.
“I went through the process but when Easthampton posted, there was no doubt in my mind I wanted to go 100% for it,” he said.
Perrone also noted that regardless of the outcome of the situation he will remain the assistant superintendent in West Springfield beyond this year.
“When I got the position as interim, I negotiated in my contract that I could come back – if I didn’t get a job – as assistant superintendent for another year, which is perfect for me. I have a family of four, you’ve gotta do things that are responsible through the lens of what’s best for your family,” he said.
Depending on the outcome of the search, Perrone said he will move on if he has too.
“Am I disappointed? Absolutely, life is full of disappointments and that’s how we learn and grow and move on,” he said.