Pittsfield Council Again Requests Redacted PHS Report
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The City Council has again asked the School Committee for a redacted version of the 2025 Pittsfield High School investigative report.
This time, it is sent to an almost-all-new panel that largely expressed a need for increased transparency around the report during last year's election.
On Tuesday, Ward 6 Councilor Dina Lampiasi and Ward 7 Councilor Katherine Moody's petition urging the School Committee release the report with needed redactions was approved. School Committee member Ciara Batory has submitted the same request for Wednesday's meeting.
Five past and present PHS staff members were investigated for alleged misconduct, and allegations were found to be "unsupported," according to executive summaries released by the former committee.
Moody said the handling of this report has caused "such massive damage" to public trust.
"I would argue that the damage done to our community by handling this so poorly far outweighs the possibility of lawsuits on a very carefully and well-redacted report that needs to be released to the public," she added.
"I've been shouting this from the rooftop for far too long, and now I finally have a podium to shout from. So there you go, release the report."
The district launched a more than $150,000 investigation at the end of 2024 after a Pittsfield High dean of students, Lavante Wiggins, was arrested and charged by the U.S. Attorney's Office for allegedly conspiring to traffic large quantities of cocaine in Western Massachusetts.
Allegations of staff misconduct soon surfaced on social media, and three PHS administrators and two teachers, past and present, were investigated by Bulkley Richardson and Gelinas LLP at the request of the School Committee.
The public was provided information on the case through five executive summaries that largely found the allegations unsupported. The final executive summary released in May was unable to conclude that an administrator shared a nude image with students on social media.
Both Superintendent Joseph Curtis and PHS Principal Maggie Harrington-Esko retired at the end of the school year; Wiggins' case is currently in U.S. District Court.
In April 2025, the council urged the School Committee to release a public summary of the findings from the independent investigation. Ward 1 Councilor Kenneth Warren also submitted an administrative appeal to the state office of public records, and Supervisor of Records Manza Arthur determined that the Pittsfield Public Schools met their burden to withhold public records.
The week before, school officials requested a recap of the process and, if possible, the findings of the investigation.
Lampiasi explained that this is to follow up with a new group of people, saying, "Hey, let's do the right thing. Let's correct our narrative here in Pittsfield and try to not look like we support hiding things." Part of the issue, she said, was a lack of communication from the previous School Committee and district administration.
"All of us here know, and everybody at home knows, that Pittsfield has a real image problem. We have an image problem. Families in our city do not feel comfortable. They want to know more information. Families in the schools want more information. Surrounding communities are not choosing Pittsfield because they want more information," she said.
"Not only that, but they want to see what we're doing differently. What we can do differently is to be more honest and to speak up when we need to get more information. It's that simple."
Warren said there is no confusion in the public's vote this last election, and addressed "red herrings" raised by previous School Committee members.
"One, they say that the investigation was for potential disciplinary reasons, but it wasn't. It really wasn't. All the significant instances that had been investigated had been investigated previously, and they were found without merit. And if they would have told us that, or told the public that, there might have been some difference of what was necessary. The investigation was the result of public pressure for transparency, not for discipline," he said.
"No. 2, they say too much transparency could hinder future investigations, if only there was something that might guide us in determining this…"
He pointed out that Miss Hall's School released its investigative report after several former students came forward in early 2024, reporting that a teacher (Matthew Rutledge, 62 at the time) had abused and exploited them at the private school.
Councilor at Large Peter White suggested that an amendment be made to redact the names of non-investigated employee participants, and the petition was further amended to allow the School Committee to set a date for the redacted report's release, rather than Feb. 18.
Other proposed redactions include at a minimum:
-
The names and any personally identifying information of any student, minor, or former
student -
The names and any personally identifying information of any non-employee participant,
including but not limited to parents/guardians, volunteers, witnesses, complainants, or
community members who are not employed by Pittsfield Public Schools -
Any information that would reasonably identify a student or non-employee participant
through context (including unique identifiers, specific dates, or highly specific descriptions) -
Any information that is legally protected, including information covered by student privacy
requirements and personnel confidentiality where required by law
Councilor at Large Kathleen Amuso explained that she voted for the petition last year, and cited concerns about overloading the School Committee with another task on top of the middle school restructuring and a tight budget year coming up.
She and Ward 3 Councilor Matthew Wrinn voted against the petition, Amuso explaining that she has already supported this and will support what is on the School Committee agenda.
Wrinn does not want to wait any longer to release the report.
"We've wasted far too much time on this, far too much money," he said.
"There are victims that are listed in this report that are going to be redacted that the general public is going to know who they are. We've embarrassed ourselves enough. We've elected a new School Committee. Let's be transparent going forward and put this behind us."
Tags: investigation, PHS,
