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Wilfredo Laboy’s Insubordination
Must not be tolerated!
There is no leadership on the School Committee

published 02/15/00

-by Tom Duggan

Last week Lawrence School Committeeman Michael Sweeney asked a question of our new superintendent. Sweeney asked if the 20% raise in pay for non-union employees would be increased again in July when all non-union employees get their 3% cost of living increase. Seemed like a fair enough question to me.

But, instead of answering a question from his boss, Laboy exhibited behavior that Lawrence hasn’t seen in a superintendent for many years. He shook his head and said he was refusing to answer the question. "Lets move on with the agenda," he said.

Move on with the agenda? Refuse to answer the question? An elected member of the school committee asks a question and is told by his employee to move on with the agenda? I couldn’t believe what I was witnessing! Who works for who here? The superintendent doesn’t tell the school committee to move on with their agenda. He’s there at the will of the committee to answer their questions and inform the public (through the committee) of what is going on in the schools.

Mike Sweeney looked as stunned as I was, but he pressed on. He asked if the Director of Personnel, Sal Petralia, could answer the question as to whether or not these employees were really getting 20% added to their pay or 23%. But Laboy shook his head again and refused to let the Personnel Director answer the question.

The fact is, Laboy didn’t answer Mike Sweeney’s question because he just gave a raise to a dozen or so non-union employees who are already making over $60,000 plus in base pay. And they will be getting another 3% cost of living raise next July, making their pay raise 23% in one year. Laboy didn’t want the public to hear that at an open meeting and that’s why he refused to answer the question.

This is a school committee meeting we’re talking about here, not a superintendent’s meeting. Laboy’s insubordination so soon after getting hired shows lack of respect for the people of Lawrence. Yet, no one on the School Committee had the guts or leadership to call the Superintendent to task. Ralph Carerro is a candidate for mayor and tells people he is a leader in this community. Yet he sat by silently as the Superintendent blatantly refused to answer a colleagues questions. Is that a leader?

And I wonder if Suzanne Pichitello would have allowed Mae Gaskins to get away with that? Remember when Mae Gaskins couldn’t answer a question of hers because she didn’t have the paperwork right in front of her? All hell broke loose because Pichitello wanted answers. "I am a member of the Lawrence school committee," she shouted, "You are here to serve this committee, every member of this committee! The people of Lawrence deserve answers!"

Remember that? I still have the video tape and it looks like a very different Suzanne Pichitello than the one sitting on her hands Thursday night.

No longer do we have a superintendent who works for the school committee, we have a committee that works for the superintendent. (Calling Caroline Cole!) What’s sad is that Laboy is making the very same mistakes other superintendents have made before him. He is making deals with our money and it will come back to haunt him. When you dance with the devil, you always get burned.

I am at a loss here trying to understand why a man with so much intelligence and potential would sell out the city so quickly and act so disrespectfully to the tax payers and the voters. Laboy can’t knows enough about Lawrence politics to feel comfortable about his job after the November school committee election. He can’t believe that the gravy train of state and federal funds will never dry up.

The question I have for all of you is this; when the school committee election rolls around this year are you going to hold the school committee accountable for sitting on their hands while yet another superintendent refuses to answer to the people? Are you going to just return current school board members who don’t ask questions and rubber stamp everything without so much as a hint about what is really going on?

Each member of the school committee must run by district this year. There is a very good chance that a complete turnover on the board will occur. A very good possibility! And I want to encourage that. Not only do I want to encourage it, I want you the readers to start asking your friends and neighbors if they want to make a difference in this city. Start thinking about people you know who would make a good school committee member and help turn this city around. It can only change at the grass roots level.

If you don’t start participating in this city government, the kids sitting in Lawrence classrooms today will have no chance at a quality education. Their chances of succeeding tomorrow will be doomed by the current lack of leadership. Do you think they are getting a quality education and in safe schools under this committee? I don’t.

Lawrence needs leaders. We don’t need a superintendent who refuses to answer to the people. And we certainly don’t need elected leaders who sit on their hands year after year. What we need….is you!

Get involved! And please, pay attention.