HAVERHILL — For the last three years, too many teachers have been teaching subjects in which they are not sufficiently qualified, according to the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Interim Superintendent James Scully revealed this information to the School Committee last night and members expressed shock and dismay. Scully, who has been running the schools since July 1, said he found out about the lack of compliance in a letter from the state Wednesday demanding an improvement plan.
The School Department was supposed to notify the state by June 17 of its plans to bring the system into compliance, Scully said. Coincidentally, that was the same day the School Committee selected Scully as interim superintendent. He replaced Raleigh Buchanan, who left Haverhill to run the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District.
Asked how many teachers are not considered qualified by the state to teach the subjects to which they are assigned, Scully told The Eagle-Tribune he did not have an exact number but said it's "a small minority."
"We have to clean it up," Scully said. "It's not under the table, it's on the table."
School Committee member Joseph Bevilacqua said he and his colleagues are aware students are performing below state averages in a number of areas.
"This obviously is very troubling," he said. Bevilacqua said Buchanan never mentioned the problem of underqualified teachers.
"This was not brought to my attention," School Committee member Scott Wood said. He inquired about the matter four years ago, he said, and was told the school system had enough "highly qualified" teachers.
If the person or persons responsible for the noncompliance were still employed by the School Department, Wood said he "would move to have them terminated immediately."
"This is an example of sweeping dust under the rug," School Committee member Paul Magliocchetti said. School Committee member Ray Sierpina, retired principal of Tilton School, said administrators are not always able to fill every spot with a teacher considered "highly qualified" by the state.
"Sometimes the well is dry and you can't get someone who is 100 percent qualified," he said. School Committee member Susan Danehy noted the weeks before Scully was hired were a "transition time" and maybe that's why Buchanan didn't pounce on the matter.
"It certainly is not a surprise to me," she said, adding it was "disingenuous" of her colleagues to say they knew nothing about it.
Wood stuck to his guns, insisting, "We were never informed of this." Furthermore, he said Buchanan once told the School Committee every teacher was in the correct position.
Scully said he discussed the problem with the principals yesterday morning and that they will bring the system into compliance with the state's expectations.
"We'll get there. We'll solve it," he said.
Buchanan could not be reached for comment.
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