EagleTribune.com, North Andover, MA
Merrimack Valley
Keeping mum on warning has school chief questioning decision
Published: August 27, 2008
NORTH ANDOVER — Superintendent James Marini said he was never trying to deceive anyone when he held off telling the public about North Andover High School's newest accreditation warning.
While Marini received notice that the high school was back on warning status by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges in late May, he didn't present the School Committee with the information until its Aug. 19 meeting.
He says now that he should have told parents earlier, especially since some residents are upset he waited.
Marini said he thought he was doing the right thing, meeting with the accreditation agency first to see if there was any chance the warning might be lifted immediately.
"I own this decision. I wanted to confront NEASC on some disagreements I had," Marini said. "I felt it was important to have the conversation and clear things up before going to the committee. I didn't want even more confusion.
"It probably would have been better if I brought this to the School Committee first and NEASC after," he said.
Marini made the comments this week after some parents and residents have taken to Internet blogs, questioning why the superintendent waited to make the announcement.
Some parents complained that they might have sent their children to other high schools if they knew about the warning. Others said there must be an ulterior motive.
School Committee Chairman Barbara Whidden said she understood why Marini didn't come out with the information right away. He did not want to announce the high school was on warning if there was a chance that the warning could be lifted after a meeting with the association, she said.
"That way it wouldn't be up and down," she said yesterday. "In hindsight, the committee should have been informed."
North Andover High Principal Carla Scuzzarella is drafting a letter to NEASC, asking the association to lift this new warning at its Oct. 15 meeting.
The high school has been on warning a few times over the last decade.
The New England Association of Schools and Colleges placed the high school on warning in October 2006, telling officials to reduce class sizes and find more money for teachers after a series of budget cuts.
But the agency lifted the warning in October 2007 after several appeals by former Principal Susan Nicholson and approval of a $1.65 million Proposition 2<1/2> override.
Agency officials visited the high school two days after lifting the warning.
They issued a report in March along with a long list of improvements North Andover would have to make to keep its accreditation. The report cited a need for more electives, more professional development for teachers and smaller class sizes.
School administrators received a letter in late spring informing them the school would be placed back on warning.
"We were just taken off warning in October and now we were back on. It was a bit if a roller coaster," Marini said.
He argues that many of the things the association was critical of have been corrected since they visited back in October, with the school adding more electives and staff.
Marini said Monday that the high school is not in jeopardy of losing its accreditation.
"The high school is fully accredited," he said. "We're fully in good standing. It's important people understand this."
