Pittsfield Council Wants Promised Transparency Around PHS Investigation
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The City Council doesn't want promises of transparency around the Pittsfield High School investigation to be backtracked.
On Tuesday, it urged the School Committee to release a public summary of the findings from the independent investigation into staff misconduct at PHS. Councilors reported that they have been left in the dark along with the general public, so much so that Ward 1 Councilor Kenneth Warren submitted a public records request.
"I want to be clear that we on the council haven't received a secret briefing on what happened. We are being left in the dark, too. It's not acceptable," Ward 6 Councilor Dina Lampiasi said.
"We're all concerned, and we can do it differently."
Earlier this month, school officials requested a recap of the process and, if possible, the findings of Bulkley Richardson & Gelinas' investigation triggered by allegations against two administrators who have since been cleared by an outside investigation.
The district's legal counsel has reportedly advised against releasing the report even though officials pledged transparency when the scandal arose.
Councilor at Large Earl Persip III, who submitted the petition, admitted that he is 50/50 "at best" about his child attending Pittsfield schools next year.
"I thought I would never say that out loud," he said. "I have to say that now because my children come first, and I don't think that the school department is thinking about how parents feel."
In December, officials were shaken by the allegations that came out around the same time that PHS Dean Lavante Wiggins was arrested and charged by the U.S. Attorney's Office for allegedly conspiring to traffic large quantities of cocaine, and pledged transparency in the ensuing investigations.
"That's backtracked for some reason. There are many ways to put out information without putting out personal information, but to gain the trust back of the community, I think it's important that we release what we can, and I want us as a council together to support that release of the information," Persip said.
"We can't have the community trust what we're doing up here if we don't release information that we said we're going to release and that we were all supportive of doing back in December when this was a hot topic. I know some people won't believe some of the information. Some people will. That's not the point. The point is to gain some trust back and to be as open as possible when we're dealing with situations like this."
Lampiasi thinks most of the community, including herself, was disappointed to hear that information was being withheld, and that the goal post keeps being moved. She explained that the schools have practical and public relations problems.
"We have a practical problem in that students and parents do not have trust in our school system. We also have a PR problem," she said.
"Every year we come to budget sessions, we're told that part of our budgetary issue is that families are not choosing Pittsfield from middle school to high school. This is not fixing that, this is not addressing that, so as much information as we can release publicly is what needs to happen."
During a special meeting on Dec. 23, 2024, Lampiasi, Ward 7 Councilor Rhonda Serre, Ward 2 Councilor Brittany Noto and Councilors at large Kathy Amuso and Alisa Costa petitioned their colleagues to support the School Committee in seeking an independent investigation into allegations of misconduct by staff members at Pittsfield High School that have come to light in recent weeks. It was met with unanimous support.
"I can say that our original petition was to show our support and lift the School Committee members up, knowing there was unity behind them and that we agreed that they would investigate this and clear the air and there would be full transparency," Serre said, adding that the goal posts have moved and "This no longer looks like what we petitioned to support in December."
Ward 4 Councilor James Conant finds it "extremely" disappointing that the School Committee has decided to ignore the City Council.
"I can see no good reason why we could not go into executive session and read the report. I just don't understand it," he said.
"I want the public to know that communication from the School Committee on this issue to the City Council has been a zero, nothing, absolutely nothing. If we handle that, our issues that come to us with our constituents, we'd be run over with a train."
Warren is seriously concerned about the decision to keep the investigative reports essentially hidden from public view. This is why he submitted a public records request.
"Let me be clear, this is not about undermining the due process or the rights of those who have been cleared to return to work. This is about trust, transparency, and the integrity of our educational community," he said.
"When a complaint of this type arises, especially involving the safety and well-being of students, it is our moral and civic duty to ensure the process is not only fair, but significantly transparent, and I use that word understanding that. Significantly. In the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, public institutions are accountable to the people. Shielding such reports behind confidentiality not only erodes that accountability but sends a chilling message that the protection of reputations may come before the safety of children and the public's right to know. If the clearance or unsubstantiation was justified and supported by the evidence, then let the reports speak for themselves. Hiding important information suggests there is something to hide. Transparency protects those that have been cleared. Silence protects no one. We cannot build trust with secrecy. We cannot foster safety with silence."
He "certainly" believes that the school department is intentionally withholding information, but doesn't believe they are covering something up.
"I believe they're acting in good faith. I don't believe that they're trying to hide anything that is harmful to our children," Warren explained. "But that doesn't mean it's enough that they're acting in good faith. It's not helping us at all."
Ward 5 Councilor Patrick Kavey pointed to his criticism of Superintendent Joseph Curtis' hiring four years ago as an internal candidate. Kavey said this decision failed the district.
"Then I was told, when we had our joint meeting with the School Committee, that I came off a little edgy, but this is why," he said.
"Because we asked them to do something, they say they're going to work together with us, they say they're right there with us, and then after the fact, they say, 'Nope, just kidding. We don't want to work with the council. We don't want to tell the public what's going on fully.'"
He said Lampiasi "hit the nail on the head" in bringing up school choice, as the Pittsfield Public Schools spends almost $4 million because of students choosing other districts.
"I was going to try and play nice with them, but if it continues to get less productive as we go on, I guess we'll just put in more petitions. When Councilor Persip asked me about this specific petition, the first thought in my head was, 'Why does he have to put in this petition?' He shouldn't have to, but I mean, why did you have to put in the petition to ask for an investigation in the first place? You shouldn't have to. They should already be doing it, but here we are," Kavey said.
"So hopefully they'll heed our advice and respond to our ask appropriately after this meeting, and if we don't, we'll just get louder and we'll keep pushing back at them, and we'll have a fun time this June (during budget season)."
Costa, remembering the School Committee thanking councilors for standing by them in December, said, "They really haven't stood by the community, and I really hate to say that."
"Restorative justice demands that we take action and we take accountability for mistakes that we've made, but if we don't know where our weaknesses are, we can't fix it. We can't be stronger as a community," she explained.
"And it is a really difficult situation, but government is a conversation among elected officials and with the public. There has been no conversation in any direction here, and we are not served by that. It's a lack of action for me."
Persip clarified that when they talk about the school department, they really mean the department leadership.
"I think a lot of us have faith in the people that are actually working in the schools, most of them, and who's working in the day-to-day classrooms, so I want to make sure we're clear on that," he said.
"But when we talked about this in December, there's only one thing that's changed since December. There's been no communication, and the public is just getting less trustful about what the process is. That's the only thing that's happened. We haven't heard anything, just like everybody else has said. Councilor Warren said he doesn't think they're acting in bad faith. I can't tell you if they're acting in bad faith because I have no information at all."
In February, nonprofit Enough Abuse pitched its services to safeguard children from sexual abuse to the council and the School Committee. It was pointed out that there has been "nothing" done on that front except for the meeting that Warren put together.
"We haven't changed anything, and we want people to continue to be in our school district?" Persip asked.
Tags: investigation, Pittsfield Public Schools,
