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Wilfredo Laboy Refuses School Committee
Access to Public Information

-Tom Duggan

Believe me when I tell you I am not out to get Superintendent Wilfredo Laboy. His success as our Superintendent means success for children and our future as a city. There is nothing I would like more than for him to succeed as the leader of our schools and for every kid in Lawrence to get a real quality education.

The blunders he is making, however, must be addressed and the behavior he willingly exhibits has to be rebuked before we can even hope that will happen.

You know things are really starting to go wrong around here when I start praising Suzanne Piscitello. But that is what I am about to do and it's all because of Superintendent Laboy's consistent show of disrespect for the public, the press and members of the School Committee.

Last Thursday, School Committeeman Suzanne Piscitello raised her voice in anger because she wanted a list of all school employees and their salaries. As Rumbo has learned many times in the past, Superintendent Laboy doesn't give out public information very easily. You might as well wait for an act f congress if you try to get any information about any topic he doesn't want you to know about.

In this case, Piscitello wants the public employees salaries listed in the budget. And for some reason, (we can all guess what those are) Laboy is violating the trust of the public by playing games…again. Piscitello's tirade went on for seven minutes as she made an impassioned plea for policies and procedures to be followed.

Piscitello also made known her displeasure in the way Laboy usurps the School Committee authority by playing around with the School Committee's agenda. "When I place an item on the School Committee agenda I want the item to appear on the agenda as I placed it on the agenda. I don't want it to go to the mayor's office to be waylaid by the Mayors office. If I ask a question of the superintendent I want an answer," Piscitello said.

She found an unlikely ally in School Committeeman Noah Shannon. Both School Committee members are upset that they have a difficult time getting important data on the schools. Both are upset at the "casual" way their requests, and in some cases "demands" are ignored.

Of course, there are two sides to every story and I am sure Mr. Laboy may have a good explanation for some of the issues raised by Shannon and Piscitello. But, since Laboy has refused to speak to Rumbo, he refuses to answer my questions, he refuses to speak to Ronnie Ford on the Hot Line Program (WCCM) and parents are refused access to him, it seems a bit counterproductive to try and figure out what those explanations are.

What few explanations we do get at public meetings are so long winded and rambling that it is impossible to figure out what the hell he is talking about. Community activist Billy Collins asked a yes or no question at public participation about the Rollins school and Laboy gave him a history lesson on the transitional learning academy. By the time he was done the question had to be asked again.

Yes, it seems arrogant that Laboy doesn't answer to anyone and does what he pleases whether it is lawful or not. And it is easy to judge his motives as dictatorial and ill motivated when he is asking School Committee members "Who do you think you are?" at a public meeting. And all of this underscores some of the great work being done in our schools and some of the reforms Laboy has brilliantly brought forward.

It even seems insubordinate that no apology to the public or the School Committee was ever made by Laboy for the way he treated a member of the committee. But the real issue here is the result of his actions, not his personality or the motivations behind his bad behavior.

To date, Mr. Laboy has refused to allow Rumbo, WCCM and members of the public access to public documents. He has misinformed the public concerning major construction projects (the Stadium and Weatherbee School for example). He has allowed, (actually he initiated) the illegal signing of thousands of dollars in bills, by telling a school board member to sign the bills behind the back of the finance committee. Which, of course, is a violation of School Committee policies and Education Reform. I could go on for two more pages listing the bad behavior of Mr. Laboy, but what we really need to look at is how his public relations games are hurting the schools and the city.

The result of his actions, (again, putting aside his personality and motives for a moment) is that the public is less informed, an atmosphere of mistrust and speculation takes hold, conflict arises at public meetings, and worst of all the process of educating children is riddled with destructive politics which carries down to the classroom.

We have already been down this road before, folks. The problem is not Wilfredo Laboy himself. It is a systematic disregard for the voters and the process of government by him and those who are charged with questioning his decisions and keeping track of our money.

Either the majority of the School Committee is unwilling, or unable to comb through policies and budgets to do their jobs effectively. If they were, there is no possible way Mr. Laboy would have escaped a public reprimand for the way he spoke to Noah Shannon two weeks ago. If they were doing their jobs members of the public would not have to go nine rounds just to get a public document. If they were concerned about serving the public instead of sticking their heads in the sand for political convenience, they would be reprimanding the superintendent, calling for a full investigation into these construction projects (one of which cost us 300% more than the original contracted price) and forcing him to work for us.

Are they filing suit to recover our tax money on these construction projects? No, they are not. Are they following their own policies and procedures regarding bills and budget items? Certainly this is not the case when a member of the committee illegally signs the bills to cover Laboy's rear end.

So, what we are left with is one (and on a good day 2) member of the School Committee asking questions and everyone else sleeping at the wheel. If the majority of the School Committee really wants to make our school system better for children they must step up to the plate and perform the uneasy tasks of questioning everything, actually reading the School Committee policies and then following those policies as well as making Laboy follow them.

The public should commend Suzanne Piscitello for her steadfast position on public information being provided to the public. She should be praised for her passionate plea at the committee table for a fair dissemination of information to the School Committee and the public. Noah Shannon's relentless efforts to bring back room deals to the public light must also be commended. But where are the rest of the committee members while this is going on?

Now, if the rest of the committee would hold Mr. Laboy's feet to the fire and force him to act only in accordance with the restrictions of Education reform and School Committee policies, we could focus on the very serious changes our superintendent is making in the classroom. We can focus on educational issues instead of political game playing by a man who acts unlawfully with impunity.

When it all comes down to it, all the infighting at meetings and all the scathing columns in the world are not going to positively affect the way children learn in Lawrence. The only way we can better our educational system is to work with the superintendent and that doesn't happen when people in positions of responsibility refuse to do their job.

I think the School Committee must has an obligation to make sure laws are followed and when they don't do that, any superintendent will take advantage of such a week committee and run rough shod over the public and the process. That is not how we adequately educate children. It's not how we take part in the democratic process. At least it's not suppose to be. Let's clamp down on the Superintendent's bad behavior and dishonest explanations and get down to the real goal of the School Committee; (Memo to some School Committee members, that goal is not to be a puppet for the Superintendent) it is educating children.