Lanesborough School Committee's Barton Resigns

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
Print Story | Email Story
The division between Chairwoman Regina DiLego and School Committee member Robert Barton came to a head on Tuesday morning with Barton's resignation.

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — Citing distrust of the committee's chairman, a member of the Lanesborough School Committee on Tuesday morning tendered his resignation.

Robert Barton emailed Chairwoman Regina DiLego and town officials on Tuesday to announce that he plans to leave the three-person body and would "try to serve until May 5."

"Regina, last night's School Committee meeting was profoundly disturbing," Barton wrote, referring to the Monday meeting attended by just him and DiLego. "I have decided to resign as a member, rather than try to serve with members who are either not truthful or not reliable."

Reached at his home late Tuesday evening, Barton clarified that he did not mean to impugn the character of committee member James Moriarty, who had to miss Monday's meeting to take care of his daughter, who was ill.

"I don't have any problem with Jim Moriarty's integrity," Barton said. "I have zero problem with that. The concern there — and it's not just mine but Jim's as well — is that he's a single parent and doesn't have the time to devote to the extracurriculars that come with School Committee membership.

"Maybe if things were calm — if we weren't going through all the changes, whether the superintendent search or considering what to do with the region — it would be different. He gives the priority I think he should — to his daughter."

Barton said there was no one new issue that has come up in recent days to push him to resign. Rather, it was a "cumulative process of loss of confidence in Regina."

DiLego on Tuesday night said she was surprised by Barton's email and had no hint that it was coming — either at Monday's open meeting or in the executive session that followed.

"We didn't carry the conversation into there," she said. "We just dealt with the things on the agenda for the executive session."

On Monday evening, DiLego refused to resign from the chairmanship as Barton had asked and refuted specific accusations he made about her truthfulness.

He raised one of those accusations in his resignation letter and brought up another that arose from an unrelated piece of business from Monday night.

Director of Pupil Services Kim Grady attended Monday's meeting to report to the committee on an audit of the elementary school's coordinated program. On Monday, Barton asked when the School Committee had authorized such an audit, which Grady said was paid for out of her operating budget.

DiLego told Barton on Monday that the audit had been discussed at a Sept. 24 meeting that he did not attend.

He said right out that he doesn't want to work with Jim or I. How can you expect us to work together?
                           — Regina DiLego

"Last night I accepted your statement," Barton wrote on Tuesday, "but when I checked the agenda for that meeting, I found no mention of the audit. It looks as though you launched this project without Committee approval."

DiLego did not reiterate her responses to Barton's other accusations, but on the new point of contention, she attached to her reply a copy of the Sept. 24 meeting, attended by Moriarty and herself. "Grady stated that she would follow up on arranging an independent assessment at the request of the committee," the minutes read.

DiLego wrote that it was clear from Barton's conduct that he knew about the audit: "Since, however, it was you who requested that the discussion of the special education audit and the possible reductions to the special education staff be palced [sic] on last night's agenda (I have the email), you have been fully aware of this audit for some time."

DiLego in her letter also suggested that Barton consider making his resignation effective Jan. 31, 2015, instead of May 5.

She cited the advantage of allowing the remaining School Committee members and Board of Selectmen to name a replacement who could fill out Barton's term and then run in his or her own right at June's annual town election.

Barton on Tuesday night said he plans to continue serving on the School Committee through the upcoming fiscal 2016 budget process.

"I promised the Selectmen and the Finance Committee when I ran for School Committee that I would work to improve the budgeting, which has been poorly done," Barton said. "Regina's sat in on a lot of those poorly done budgets. I need to stay the course until we get this budget done, and I think that's some time in April or early May.

"I'm not ready to do nasty battle for five months to just try to help the town or school, but if it's reasonably businesslike, I feel like I should."

DiLego said Tuesday night that she does not see how the committee can work effectively with Barton's resignation letter hanging out there.

 It would be underlying everything we did. If he's not happy, then he shouldn't stay until May."

Not surprisingly, Barton disagreed.

"Time will tell," he said when asked if the committee could be productive. "I think it probably will be."

Below is Barton's emailed resignation letter and DiLego's response. We have redacted the email addresses because they were sent to both governmental and personal emails, including to the town clerk, administrators in the school system and Moriarty.

Date: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 10:16:18 -0500
Subject: Resignation

Regina, last night's School Committee meeting was profoundly disturbing. I have decided to resign as a member, rather than try to serve with members who are either not truthful or not reliable. I will try to serve until May 5 to help get through budgeting for 2016 and planning for administrative transition.

After last night, I am even more convinced you have been purposefully misleading townspeople about LES business. The easiest example is point 1. in my complaint letter. This relates to 2014 Annual Town Meeting and the LES budget.  In your 12/15 reply memo you don't even try to deny misleading the voters about our transportation plan. You do try to defend your statement "the budget has no reserves" by saying the funds in question were "earmarked" (therefore not really reserves?). This is like saying the savings I set aside for my grand-daughter's education are not really savings because they are earmarked. What if she doesn't go to college, do the savings disappear? Minutes for the LESC meeting two days after the ATM, which you approved, confirm the existence of reserves totaling about $30,000. And, this didn't include the $5,000 cushion Lynn Bassett repeatedly acknowledged was in the Cafe line, nor any of the $35,000 rebate we were close to finalizing with Dufour.

Speaking of mis-statements, I should include your comment at last night's meeting that the School Committee had approved the ongoing Special Education audit at its Sept. 24 meeting. Last night I accepted your statement, but when I checked the agenda for that meeting, I found no mention of the audit.  It looks as though you launched this project without Committee approval.
 
Ughh--life is too short.    Bob


Subject: RE: Resignation
Date: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 22:42:34 +0000

Bob-


I acknowledge receipt of your resignation to take affect no later than May 5, 2015. I would suggest, however, that you consider tendering this resignation effective Jan 31st, 2014 instead. This would allow you to complete your pending charges against the superintendent, and allow you to enjoy life sooner.

While I acknowledge your offer to help with the FY16 budget, I also must acknowledge your distaste for working with myself and apparently Jim (as you say "rather than try to serve with members" in your email) going forward. It is not necessary for you to subject yourself to that which disturbs you so. We have a superintendent, business manager, administrative team and the remaining members of the School Committee who can handle this task.

In actuality, Jim has been forthright in stating that he has no desire to continue on after this year. He has said this since his first year in office. Were you to wait until May and Jim choose to not run for re-election, that would leave the committee with two new members at the same time. Your resignation on Jan 31st would allow the Commtitees (Selectmen and School) to advertise for your replacement and allow for that replacement to have some time acquainting themselves with the demands and role of the school committee member prior to another new person coming on board. It would also afford your replacement valuable insight into the budget which he/she would be overseeing in FY16. It would also relieve you of that which you find so distasteful.

I will not respond to your continued allegations against me in the rest of your letter. You have your opinion of me and I have my opinion of you.

I will, however, direct you to the minutes of Sept 24, 2014 wherein you will find the discussion which occurred leading to the special education audit. I never said it was on the agenda for Sept 24th. Had you attended the meeting, you would have known what went on that night and would have had your opportunity for input. Since, however, it was you who requested that the discussion of the special education audit and the possible reductions to the special education staff be palced on last night's agenda (I have the email), you have been fully aware of this audit for some time. In fact, you received and were present at the meeting where the Sept 24th minutes were approved. This knowledge was in your possession even as you accuse me of lying about it.

Regina

 


Tags: LES,   resignation,   

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Berkshire Wind Power Cooperative Corporation Scholarships

LUDLOW, Mass. — For the third year, Berkshire Wind Power Cooperative Corporation (BWPCC) will award scholarships to students from Lanesborough and Hancock. 
 
The scholarship is open to seniors at Mount Greylock Regional High School and Charles H. McCann Technical School. BWPCC will select two students from the class of 2024 to receive $1,000 scholarships.
 
The scholarships will be awarded to qualifying seniors who are planning to attend either a two- or four-year college or trade school program. Seniors must be from either Hancock or Lanesborough to be considered for the scholarship. Special consideration will be given to students with financial need, but all students are encouraged to apply.
 
The BWPCC owns and operates the Berkshire Wind Power Project, a 12 turbine, 19.6-megawatt wind farm located on Brodie Mountain in Hancock and Lanesborough. The non-profit BWPCC consists of 16 municipal utilities located in Ashburnham, Boylston, Chicopee, Groton, Holden, Hull, Ipswich, Marblehead, Paxton, Peabody, Russell, Shrewsbury, Sterling, Templeton, Wakefield, and West Boylston, and their joint action agency, the Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company (MMWEC). 
 
To be considered, students must submit all required documents including a letter of recommendation from their school counselor and a letter detailing their educational and professional goals. Application and submission details will be shared with students via their school counselors. The deadline to apply is Friday, April 19.
 
 MMWEC is a not-for-profit, public corporation and political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts created by an Act of the General Court in 1975 and authorized to issue tax-exempt debt to finance a wide range of energy facilities.  MMWEC provides a variety of power supply, financial, risk management and other services to the state's consumer-owned, municipal utilities. 
View Full Story

More Lanesborough Stories