The Mattapoisett School Committee met on July 1 by Zoom, went into executive session, and emerged to vote to accept a memorandum of agreement with the Mattapoisett Educators Association. The one-year agreement includes a 2.25-percent pay increase.
Mattapoisett Town Administrator Mike Lorenco also attended the meeting and voted in the affirmative, along with committee members Carly Lavin, Tiffini Reedy, Karin Barrows, and Chair James Muse. Committee member Shannon Finning voted against the agreement for a 5-1 tally that resulted in passing the MOA.
In Old Rochester Regional School District news, Superintendent of Schools Mike Nelson recently announced that Peter Crisafulli has been hired as the new assistant principal of Sippican School in Marion. Crisafulli has over 19 years of experience as a public school administrator and 10 years working in community mental health and social services.
“Pete has over two decades of experience in public education leadership and administration, as well as human services, and I am confident his expertise will be a valuable addition to the Sippican School team,” stated Nelson in a press release. “We look forward to welcoming Pete to our district.”
Crisafulli’s 19 years in public school administration saw him serve from 2009 to 2018 as principal at Whately Elementary School, a public school that enrolled 116 students in 2020-21 in the western Massachusetts town. Crisafulli had been assistant principal of Deerfield Elementary School and director of the transitional education program at Frontier Regional High School in South Deerfield.
Crisafulli has 10 years of experience in community mental health and social services, including several positions with the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in Holyoke. He sits on the Board of Directors of the nonprofit Treehouse Foundation (foster care), and volunteers with the Friends of Children organization as a mentor for young people aging out of the foster-care system.
In a separate press release thanking various stakeholders across the Tri-Town, Nelson lauded faculty, staff, and administration for their adjustments and contributions to the 2020-21 academic year that began with a vast majority of students attending school on a part-time basis, splitting that time with learning via remote access.
Late in the winter, when the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education began green-lighting a return to full-time, in-person learning, ORR District schools first brought back K-2 students, followed by Grades 3-6 and eventually Grades 6-12. A small number of students opted to join the full-remote minority rather than pivot to full in-person, and the hybrid model was discontinued.
The pivot to full-time, in-person learning required careful planning in each of the school buildings, and wherever possible, district schools maintained a 6-foot social distance, even after the state adjusted the guideline to 3 feet. Nelson thanked building, food service, technology, custodial, maintenance, and transportation staff and town health officials for providing a safe return for students and faculty.
“Our nurses and physicians across the district continually monitored health guidance and created and adjusted our health protocols and precautionary measures as needed,” said Nelson. “Our partners across the tri-towns are always valuable advocates for the district, and we were especially grateful for their advice and assistance this year. They helped us to make decisions and overcome challenges as we planned for the known and unknown; and, as always, they were wonderful supporters of our schools.
“Our students demonstrated incredible perseverance and resilience and made the best of various learning models and events that needed to be held in non-traditional ways. Of course, our students would not be as successful as they are each year without the support of their parents and families. We wish our entire school community a safe, healthy, and enjoyable summer.”
The ORR Joint School Committee/Superintendents Union #55 was scheduled to meet on July 6, when it is expected the JSC will address Nelson’s mid-cycle review. The Wanderer will report on that meeting in the July edition.
The next meeting of the Mattapoisett School Committee was not scheduled at adjournment. The next scheduled school committee meetings are as follows: Rochester on Thursday, September 2; Marion on Wednesday, September 8; and ORR on Wednesday, September 15. All school committee meetings are scheduled to be held at 6:30 pm.
School Committees
By Mick Colageo