>>Valley Patriot>> |
But I’ll save the gang issue for after the city council discusses it at its next meeting. And, I’ll add one personal word: Paul Rice, I miss you already. But you would want me to discuss issues rather than dwell on you. So, I will. In August, the Haverhill School Committee voted to open the superintendent search completely. Since then, the mayor closed his doors to parents for his own publicly posted meetings with the candidates. And, on September 29 the whole School Committee did something strange. They ranked the remaining five candidates on private ballots and then used the results of these ballots to narrow the field from five to three. As a voter and parent of a child in Haverhill Schools, I wish I knew how each member ranked his or her candidates and why. I wish I knew how the School Committee narrowed the field from five to three. In its discussions about the candidates, the School Committee referred to the private ballots but never revealed fully their contents. The mayor and two other members of the committee are seeking re-election. All voters have the right to know how they ranked the candidates and why. Beyond this, the School Committee is forming a team to do site visits for its favorite three candidates. How, without knowing the preferences of the members, can the public be assured that this site committee is in fact impartial? The only way is for the School Committee to release to the public the private ballots they used last week. Once a process is open, it needs to be open all the way or the public rightfully will lose confidence in it. The ballots should be released and printed in the daily paper immediately. *Send your questions
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I’d hoped to leave the
superintendent search behind. I had intended to write
this month about gangs in Haverhill and how we’d
ignored the problem while the mayor and City Council
exonerated our police chief from public accountability.