December 12, 2023 By Carol Britton Meyer
In response to the recent incident involving the arrest of a substitute teacher at the Middle School related to a probation violation of a trespass order in a neighboring town, the Hingham Public Schools district contracted with educational consultant Dr. Pamela Gould to perform an analysis of its hiring procedures, protocols, and communication methods to identify any concerns with the hiring of substitutes.
“Following the arrest, the community and press brought significant attention to the incident and questioned how/why [the substitute teacher] was working in the district, whether protocols were followed, why communication was slow to reach parents,” and other concerns, Gould states in the introduction to a five-page report she shared with the School Committee Monday.
Gould has spent more than 30 years in public education, and her human resources experience has allowed her to engage in district-level leadership staff issues that include internal and external communication.
During the analysis, interviews were conducted with Supt. of Schools Margaret Adams, the Human Resources Department, each of the building principals, and Police Chief David Jones.
The interviews with the Superintendent and the Human Resources department centered on the incident itself and then a review of the hiring of the substitute, Gould explains in report. There was also a deeper discussion about the hiring process in general and protocols for required background checks once staff become employed.
Building principals questioned
The building principals were each asked if the substitute in question had worked in their building since her hiring in February 2023. They were also asked if there were any issues with her as a substitute.
“The substitute had worked in each of the buildings over this time. One principal indicated he had blocked the sub from his building because on one occasion the teacher felt that she hadn’t followed the lesson plan left for that day,” according to the report. “The principal made the decision that she just wasn’t a fit in the building for that reason. No other concerns were brought up about her performance as a substitute prior to her arrest.”
The interview with Jones focused on the process of the arrest and how it impacted the schools. The chief explained that once the warrant had been issued for the substitute teacher, the police were required to take action as soon as possible, Gould stated, while also explaining that the substitute had been on pretrial probation for actions taken in a neighboring community and that the incident had “nothing to do with the HPS or its students.”
Once the warrant was issued, the police went to the Middle School — where the substitute was working that day. They talked with the principal, who went to the classroom and asked the teacher to come to the office. The police then escorted her out to the squad car, where she was read her rights and placed under arrest.
According to the report, Jones explained that every effort was made to minimize the impact on the schools and students.
Timing was an issue
“The Chief is very proud of the relationship between the police and the schools, and he explained that there is a signed Memorandum of Understanding between the two that dictates how the relationship works,” Gould states in the report. “The issue with this incident, he acknowledged, was the timing. Once the chief was made aware of the warrant, he contacted the superintendent immediately — which was after the arrest had occurred. With an incident of this nature, more consideration should be given to the schools to ensure that there is a better plan to mitigate the impact that this kind of a situation has on children and families.”
The final interview was conducted with School Committee Chair Nes Correnti and focused on “timelines of internal conversation and reasoning for external communication.”
According to Gouldn’t report, Adams texted Correnti eight minutes after the arrest. In the discussion about the substitute, Correnti asked Adams whether a CORI check had been done and was informed that one was completed at the time of the substitute’s hire in February 2023, with no findings at that time.
They then discussed whether this incident warranted a communication to the public. At that time, they agreed that, “because the incident didn’t directly involve any students in the district, or the schools itself, that it was not necessary,” according to Gould. “This conversation changed after a number of days, when the incident was being discussed locally. They decided that the superintendent would send a communication home on Friday, Nov. 3,” and that the School Committee would also send a communication to families the following day.
Parents aired concerns at forum
In response to concern in the community that families were not notified in a timely manner, a forum was held by Adams on November 8 following the communication home, “during which parents voiced their concerns that they were not notified immediately that the police were on school grounds arresting a substitute teacher and assuring them that their children were safe.”
The report also outlines HPS Human Resources hiring processes/protocols and efforts that have been made to evaluate hiring processes for substitutes to ensure “best practices moving forward.”
In her findings, Gould concluded that the district followed the law and all their processes and protocols in the hiring of the substitute teacher in question. At the same time, she said, there are improvements that can be made “to strengthen hiring and protocols/procedures for all staff moving forward.”
The following are Gould’s recommendations to help ensure that happens:
- establishing a regular schedule for CORI checks every three years for all current staff;
- continuing training for all substitutes;
- finalizing and distributing a faculty handbook to all staff;
- finalizing and training the leadership team and hiring managers about hiring practices;
- implementing a face-to-face meeting with the Human Resources Department for all new substitute hires prior to the date of
- hire to ensure the applicant knows all the rules/procedures/protocols of the district;
- implementing a schedule for auditing personnel folders;
- continuing to review hiring procedures; and
- consulting with the school attorney to ensure all applicable laws are continuously being followed.
Gould also recomended continuous discussions with the Hingham police. “Aligning communication regarding police activity on school grounds is imperative,” she said. “It is advised that the schools and the police assess the Memorandum of Understanding that exists between the two. Better and/or more timely communication may have avoided the public scrutiny from an incident that had nothing to do with the Hingham Public Schools.” Doing so, Gould said, “will allow increased transparency for the community.”
Adams said she is meeting with Jones every two weeks to keep up the good communication and has asked the principals to meet with school resource officers to review the MOU.
Parent Susan O’Horo asked if there are more “robust” hiring practices that could be put into place beyond performing CORI checks more regularly to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future.
“I don’t think so. I know it’s hard to hear, but people do wrong things occasionally. I’m not justifying or minimizing what occurred, but these things happen,” Gould said.
There are some who believe HPS “should not have communicated about the substitute issue, but others who believe we didn’t communicate enough,” Correnti said. “We agreed that we would communicate with the community going forward if there is any police activity at the schools. We will have to maintain confidentiality of staff when we do, however — that is our commitment coming out of this incident.”
Social media concerns
Correnti emphasized that she is always available to answer questions and expressed concern about the sometimes “toxic” nature of social media.
“We know all too well that there is a mental health crisis going on. We have had great loss in our community over the past year, losing those near and dear due to mental health issues. It is critical to take care of our mental health the same way we would take care of a physical ailment,” Correnti said with regard to her views about social media. “We know from studies that social media increases social emotional and mental health issues. People are feeling less connected to one another, feeling alone and unsupported. We should be reaching out to help community members when we know there may be issues, and working to destigmatize mental health issues and concerns.”
Correnti shared that she read this line recently: “The only means to achieve an effective democracy is through respectful communication.”
She went on to say that while there is some good that comes from social media, “I don’t believe debating and arguing over details is one of them; there is so much that gets lost, it’s like a bad game of telephone. I would ask [parents and other members of the community] to continue to work with the School Committee and administration to strengthen our community schools. Never hesitate to reach out to us with phone calls, emails and/or requests for meetings. We will continue to learn from one another and teach our kids how to solve conflict in a positive way.”