School board meeting descends into chaos as lawsuit approved

PAWTUCKET - The Pawtucket School Committee fights about everything.

And no one, not even its members, would argue with that.

The fracturing of the Pawtucket School Department's governing body has been a gradual one, its members tell The Valley Breeze, but they say last Wednesday's special meeting, when members argued loudly over everything from rules of order to a lawsuit against the city, "marked a new low" in basic civility.

Member Jim Chellel, who would later be unanimously elected new chairman of the School Committee, was forced to pound his gavel early and often, while even the man who controls the microphone soundboard was having trouble mitigating the eruptions as his fingers danced over the volume controls.

Despite all the arguing, School Committee members still found the time last Wednesday to move forward with a number of big-ticket items, including approving by a 4-3 vote a Caruolo lawsuit against the city of Pawtucket and its taxpayers seeking more than $4 million in additional funds.

Voting against the Caruolo lawsuit, which if successful will mean an extra $265 supplemental tax bill for the average taxpayer, were School Committee members Joseph Knight, Raymond Noonan and David Coughlin. Voting for it were Chellel, Nordquist, and members Joanne Bonollo and Amy Breault-Zolt.

A long awaited performance audit previously approved to go forward as part of the Caruolo Act lawsuit has now been put out to bid by state Auditor General Erneste Almonte, according to School Committee members. The audit will show whether Nordquist and others who claim city schools are being under-funded are right, according to Knight.

The fireworks started before School Committee members were even in their seats last Wednesday evening. Member Nicole Nordquist, who would later be elected deputy chairwoman of the committee, began shouting her displeasure with Knight over something that had happened during an earlier session behind closed doors.

"Put the cops on him and have him removed, because I've had it," yelled Nordquist. "This is ridiculous, call the cops."

Knight was walking into the room at the time.

"That's ridiculous," Knight would later say of Nordquist's outburst. "Unfortunately there are going to be disputes and disagreements about what's going on. We're here for the students and we're here for the parents, but we're also here for the taxpayers."

Knight expressed outrage with both Nordquist and committee member Amy Breault-Zolt for declaring their belief last week that anyone who does not have, or has not had, their children attend Pawtucket public schools should not be included on a potential superintendent search committee now being considered.

"Every taxpayer pays for the education of each child," Knight responded during the meeting.

In other action, the School Committee approved a letter to be sent to Mayor James Doyle thanking him for taking control of forming a superintendent search committee but rejecting the idea as outside the scope of his authority.

"That takes a lot of audacity," Nordquist said of a letter from Doyle asking the School Committee to submit two names for the search committee.

The central issue of contention between the two sides on this School Committee continues to be the fact that one side, the minority of Knight and committee members David Coughlin and Raymond Noonan, consistently remind the others of the city's taxpayers as part of the equation in any decision.

On the other side, the self-proclaimed "gang of four" who approved a controversial new teachers' contract in September, state often the need to put Pawtucket's schoolchildren in the forefront and that "politics have no place here." That accusation, that "politics" have entered the fray in the search for a new superintendent, was leveled by both sides last week.

Chellel was forced to bang the gavel hard when Breault-Zolt indicated that she would like to show deputy Superintendent Kim Mercer the "respect (Mercer) deserves" and offer her the top position in Pawtucket schools when outgoing Superintendent Hans Dellith leaves on Dec. 26.

Chellel rebuked Breault-Zolt for offering a specific name but would then drop a bombshell of his own, a money-saving idea he said could "shake up the whole state" if implemented.

"Maybe we should start thinking way outside the box," said Chellel. "Why don't we have another superintendent come in and absorb us as superintendent."

Chellel said that having someone like Lincoln Superintendent Georgia Fortunato take over Pawtucket schools would not only save money through shared costs for the local district, but be a big step in the direction of regionalization of other services.

The suggestion was met with criticism from other School Committee members and Dellith, who cited legal issues that would result from such a move, along with their belief that a superintendent from a suburban school would not understand the issues facing urban Pawtucket.

Chellel, who often tries to be the mediator between others, told The Breeze after last week's meeting that some form of "civility" needs to return to School Committee meetings or all involved in the welfare of Pawtucket schools will suffer. Constant suspicions about one another's motives, along with sharp disagreements over a variety of issues, has caused an almost untenable situation on the School Committee, said Chellel.

The School Committee eventually approved a subcommittee to hash out the parameters of a search for a new superintendent, a topic of conversation that had all sides in battle mode all night.

School Committee members were not only upset that Doyle assumed control of establishing a search committee they believe belongs entirely to them, but said they were also angry that Doyle left out the city's teachers while including as part of his search committee Commissioner of Education Deborah Gist and a superintendent from a neighboring community.

Doyle wasn't backing down Monday on proceeding with a superintendent search of his own. He told The Breeze he and Chellel met last Thursday and Chellel didn't appear to have a problem with the existence of the search committee itself, but the two agreed that some changes or adjustments could be made.

"I'm not going to be nitpicky and I'm open to suggestions," said Doyle. "But I find it very, very strange that they would want to exclude the commissioner of education or a representative from her office.

"I'm getting very afraid that they don't want to open the windows and let the fresh air in."

As has happened repeatedly in recent months, Knight again argued with other School Committee members last week about whether the position of clerk for the School Committee should continue to be called a clerk or have her title changed to secretary. The controversy over the title has to do with the clerk's authority under state law to sign official School Committee documents.

Among other issues, Knight and Coughlin previously expressed frustration with former School Committee clerk Linda Coyle for failing to make sealed executive session minutes readily available.

Knight, as the clerk who followed Coyle, wants to change the clerk's title to secretary in part to make the chairman of the committee the only one who can sign official documents.

"Put the cops on him and have him removed, because I've had it." - School Committee member Nicole Nordquist, referring to member Joseph Knight