Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 4/7/2022
SOUTH HADLEY – Questions regarding South Hadley Public Schools’ top leadership are surfacing again.
In response to an inquiry regarding the status of Superintendent Dr. Jahmal Mosley, School Committee Chair Alli Schlachter confirmed to Reminder Publishing on April 6 that he is not currently at work.
“I can confirm that Dr. Mosley is currently out of the office and that his Assistant Superintendent Dr. Mark McLaughlin is communicating on behalf of the Superintendent’s Office,” Schlachter said.
McLaughlin did not respond a request for comment on the nature of Mosley’s absence, any related timetable or his current employment status. Reminder Publishing was also unsuccessful in an attempt to reach Mosley directly.
The superintendent did not participate in the past two open sessions of the School Committee’s meetings on March 17 and 31.
According to the March 17 agenda, Mosley was expected to attend that meeting. In addition participating in the school budget hearing for fiscal year 2023 (FY23), he was scheduled deliver his superintendent’s report and offer presentations on the district’s Pioneer Valley Excellence in Teaching Award recipients and a donation to the Michael E. Smith Middle School Music Department. The committee did not address Mosley’s absence at the meeting outside of Schlachter acknowledging that McLaughin would be “filling in.” Amy Foley, a teacher and representative of the South Hadley Educational Association, told the committee during her report at the meeting that union leadership had met with Mosley on March 16 to discuss his proposed revisions to the FY23 budget.
The March 31 agenda did not include Mosley at all and once again McLaughlin was present in his stead. McLaughlin is also spearheaded messaging from the district to the school community regarding the recent death of Plains Elementary School Principal Hank Skala.
The School Committee is scheduled to meet for an executive session on April 7 at 7 p.m. According to the agenda, posted on April 4, the purpose of the executive session was to “discuss complaints or charges brought against a public officer, employee, staff member or individual.” In accordance with Open Meeting Law, the session is not open to the public, nor was the specific subject of the meeting made public. Schlachter could not confirm or deny that the executive session was in any way related to Mosley’s absence.
"Tonight's [executive session] is related to litigation. Unfortunately, I can't comment further," she said.
Mosley was offered the superintendent’s position in November 2020 after a nearly yearlong search process, beating out two other finalists in Dr. Carole Learned-Miller and then-interim Superintendent Diana Bonneville. Mosely officially joined the district in the summer of 2021, leaving his position as superintendent of Nashua Public Schools in New Hampshire. Speaking on the hire, former School Committee Chair Kyle Belanger told Reminder Publishing in February 2021 that Mosley was “a dynamic, visionary leader who also brings with him a seemingly limitless well of experience in leading school districts of varying sizes.” During his first several months as superintendent, he was tasked with navigating the schools through continued public health and safety measures put in place in response to the coronavirus pandemic as well as a mold issue that closed South Hadley High School and yielded a remediation price tag of $1.4 million.
A native of Brockton, Mosley was also previously the assistant superintendent of curriculum in the Sharon Public School System. He earned his Bachelor of Arts with a concentration in psychology and African American studies and doctorate in education from the University of Massachusetts Amherst as well as a Master of Science degree in education from Wheelock College in Boston.
Bonneville, who had been South Hadley High School’s principal since 2012, elevated to the district’s top leadership position on a temporary basis following the sudden resignation of former Superintendent Nicholas Young in December 2019. Bonneville has since taken the superintendent position for the Hampshire Regional School District. Young had been superintendent since 2012 when he succeeded Gus Sayer, who retired amid ongoing turmoil stemming from the 2010 suicide of South Hadley High School student Pheobe Prince. Sayer had served as the head of schools since 2003.