ORANGE — MaureenDonelan has been fired as principal of Fisher Hill Elementary School, after months of uncertainty, no explanations from school leaders and despite strong showings of community support.
Two hours into Monday’s Orange Elementary School Committee meeting, officials repeatedly refused to say whether Donelan had been found guilty of any wrongdoing, whether she had been fired or whether she left on her own accord, stating only that Donelan “is not returning” after nearly seven years on the job.
However, Donelan’s lawyer, Steve Buoniconti, when reached Monday night, confirmed what many members of the public had asserted during the meeting.
“She was terminated,” Buoniconti said. “We’re going to be litigating that and going to arbitration.”
Buoniconti would not shed light on what led to Donelan’s firing, but did say the following:
“MaureenDonelan was made to be the scapegoat for a situation going out control, because there weren’t enough resources put into the school she was running,” Buoniconti said.
Donelan was placed on paid administrative leave in October following allegations of physical abuse and neglect against a child. The state’s Department of Children and Families investigated and found the allegations to be baseless back in November.
Still, Donelan remained on paid leave for months, even though three other staff members put on leave with Donelan were brought back to work in January, also having been cleared of wrongdoing by the state.
Superintendent Tari Thomas and the School Committee for months have refused to detail what the allegations against Donelan were and why Donelan, specifically, is being kept away from work. Their same explanation about confidentiality was repeated in front of irate members of the public seeking answers at Monday’s meeting.
“Ms. Donelan is not returning. We can’t tell you why; we can’t tell you the evidence that led up to that decision; we just can’t,” said School Committee Chairwoman Stephanie Conrod when pressed for answers by Selectboard member Tom Smith.
There have been public protests over Donelan’s absence, including a Feb. 23 protest where about 25 people stood holding signs in support of Donelan at the center of town. The protesters consistently homed in on three points: The public deserves to know why Donelan is gone while the town pays a substitute, Patti Byrnes; Donelan has been cleared of wrongdoing by the state’s leading agency on preventing child abuse; a majority of teachers at Fisher Hill support Donelan.
Indeed, a letter of support for the principal was signed by the majority of Fisher Hill teachers in November.
Fisher Hill has struggled with student behavior this year, with officials holding several meetings about curbing violent behavior from kindergartners and first graders, including throwing objects and stabbing others with pencils. The disruptions have caused teachers to evacuate their classrooms to other parts of the school to keep students away from violent classmates. Teachers like Kelly Therrien reported having evacuated their classrooms 30 times.
School officials have not connected the class disruptions to Donelan’s absence, but the two topics have come up during the same discussions at School Committee meetings. In December, the Fisher Hill teachers submitted a document to the School Committee with a list of suggestions to still classroom chaos. Again, there was a pro-Donelan message — bring back the principal was one of the suggestions.
And Donelan’s lawyer asserts the principal has been scapegoated for an out-of-control situation fueled by a lack of resources. Fisher Hill teachers, like preschool teacher Jackie Graziano, have said that the school lost a kindergarten section at the beginning of the year due to budget cuts, which increased the number of students per class and made misbehavior harder to control.
The lost classroom was added back with $50,000 in unexpected rural aid from the state that came in the fall.
While school officials still will not say anything about the Donelan situation, some counter-protesters showed up in downtown Orange on Feb. 23 to detail what, according to them, led to Donelan being placed on leave.
According to Brian Linstad, his grandson was picked up “like a football” by Donelan, who dragged the boy across the room with a chair caught around his foot. Linstad said that Donelan then shut the boy in a “cool-down” room and blocked the door to prevent the child from leaving. Linstad said he would like to see Donelan fired, and held signs with messages like, “Protect our children.”
The superintendent and School Committee won’t say this, however, and refused Monday to even say whether the principal was fired. They painted a picture of trying to help Donelan.
“This is to protect Maureen,” said School Committee member Alexandre Schwanz said of the lack of public information.
Those who spoke in the public comments section were not happy with the lack of answers.
“You can’t frame this as, ‘She’s not returning to the district.’ She’s either fired today or she’s not,” said Grace Leger.
Conrod said she has received legal advice on how to present the situation, and reaffirmed that “it’s a confidential, personnel matter.”
“If you’re reading it in the newspaper, it’s not coming from us,” Conrod said. “It’s really nobody’s business.”
Theresa Bergquist said, “It is our business,” as tax payers.
According to Thomas, staff members at Fisher Hill were informed Monday afternoon that Donelan would not be coming back, and a letter would be going out to families Tuesday morning.
Reach David McLellan at dmclellan@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 268.