D.J. DEEB
EMAIL: djdeeb@yahoo.com
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26 The Valley PatriotDecember - 2009 valleypatriot.com DRACUT
School Committee "Gang of 3" caught with their hands in the cookie jar!
D.J. Deeb VALLEY PATRIOT DRACUT COLUMNIST
After having been elected to the Dracut School Committee for just under six months, Bonnie Elie is up to her old tricks once again.
‘Backroom Bonnie’ Elie has two close political allies on the Dracut School Committee, Mike Miles and Matthew Sheehan. This ‘Gang of Three’ is successfully using its political leverage to consolidate power, drive out Superintendent Spencer Mullin, engage in political nepotism, bring back former Dracut Schools Superintendent Elaine Espindle, and negotiate backroom deals on the backs of Dracut taxpayers.
In the April 30 edition of The Valley Patriot, I predicted that the election of ‘Backroom Bonnie’ Elie would prove disastrous for the Town of Dracut.
I hate to say I told you so.
‘Backroom Bonnie’ Elie and the other members of the ‘Gang of Three’ (Mike Miles and Matthew Sheehan) are all close friends of former Dracut Selectman Warren Shaw. Although Shaw would not get elected ‘Dog Catcher" in the Town of Dracut if that were an elected position and he ran, unfortunately, he is still trying to control the Town of Dracut behind the scenes.
Recent comments that Shaw has made on his WCAP radio program and articles he has written for a competing newspaper reveal this. What is even more unfortunate is that several elected officials in the Town of Dracut lack the intestinal fortitude to stand up to Shaw and not permit themselves to be manipulated.This includes (you guessed it) Elie, Miles, and Sheehan.
The ‘Gang of Three’ (Elie, Miles, and Sheehan) is interested in making former Dracut School Committee member Tim Woods a full-time administrator as Athletic Director for Dracut High High School. Currently, Woods teaches a reduced load of two classes (instead of five) and receives a $9,000 stipend for serving as Athletic Director in addition to his full-time teaching salary.In attempting to restructure the Athletic Director position into a full-time administrative job to include Vice-Principal at the November 9th meeting, ‘Backroom Bonnie’ Elie read a prepared statement from a memo she said that she had received.
The memo contained numerous talking points. No one else on the School Committee had the memo. This raises the obvious question, where did the memo come from? Ms. Elie claimed later that she e-mailed the memo to herself. Does she really expect us to believe that? There is speculation that the memo may have even come from Woods himself. The fact remains that Woods and Elie had been close allies when the two served together on the Dracut School Committee several years ago. ‘Backroom Bonnie’ Elie was so blatantly arrogant and obvious that she prompted fellow committee member Mike McNamara to comment, "I just perceive that things are happening behind the scenes. I’m a member of the Dracut School Committee. I don’t know why I don’t have the memo." Committee member Ron Mercier also criticized Elie for trying to reorganize the position and micromanaging the Superintendent. The Committee then voted to take up discussion on the creation of a full-time Athletic Director position at a future meeting.Are Dracut School Committee members trying to take care of former Dracut School Committee member Tim Woods by making the position of Athletic Director full-time with a substantial raise? It certainly seems so. This was revealed when Miles, a Woods confidante, sung the Athletic Director’s praises at the November 9th meeting. The ironic thing about all of this is that just 1 year ago, Committee members Mike Miles and Matthew Sheehan were promoting a warrant article (albeit an illegal one) to prohibit former members of the Dracut School Committee from applying for positions within the school department. It is now obvious to everyone that this was all for political cover. Miles and Sheehan, along with Elie, are now advocating that the part-time stipend position of Athletic Director (currently held by former Dracut School Committee Member Tim Woods) be made into a full-time administrative position. Dracut residents remember that Tim Woods was hired as a teacher and Athletic Director just a few short months after his term expired on the Dracut School Committee after voting to give a 6-year sweetheart deal contract to former Superintendent Elaine Espindle. On another note, it doesn’t take a rocket
scientist to figure out that the behavior and actions of these three committee members likely prompted the decision by Dracut Superintendent Spencer Mullin to retire in March after just a year on the job. It should come as no surprise that Elie and Miles have indicated their desire to bring back former Superintendent Espindle as Interim Superintendent.Mike Miles showed his true ambitions when at the November 9th meeting he tried to push Superintendent Mullin to retire two months before his announced retirement date in March. It’s too bad that Dr. Mullin does not have a strong enough personality to speak out and fight against this ‘Gang of Three.’ He is too much of a professional and he has obviously reasoned that at this point in his career he does not need the headaches of a committee that wants to micromanage his every move. Can you blame him for retiring before his contract expires? The Dracut School Committee should take its time searching for a new Superintendent. The next Superintendent is going to have to deal with a multitude of issues facing Dracut Public Schools in preparation for the visit by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges to determine if Dracut High School will be re-accredited. With the current condition of Dracut’s schools, it is highly likely that Dracut High School will not receive accreditation, or at the very least, be placed on probationary warning. In the meantime, why not make Dr. Linda Trouville, the current Curriculum Director, interim Superintendent? She knows the system, has worked as a teacher and administrator in Dracut Public Schools for more than 25
years, is certified, and she has volunteered to fill in while the Dracut School Committee is conducting its search.The ‘Gang of Three’ have been caught with their hands in the cookie jar. Unfortunately for the students and taxpayers of Dracut it looks like a return to the "Good Ole Days" of Backroom Deals in Dracut. These were the days of failing MCAS scores, below average SAT scores, high student drop-out rates, constant turnover among staff, and political nepotism at its worst. It sounds like a Warren Shaw field day. With Re-Accreditation of Dracut schools looming next year, Dracut’s in for a rough ride and dark days ahead. It will be a miracle if the Town of Dracut does not lose its accreditation as all indicators point to that being the likely scenario.
D.J. Deeb is a member of the Town of Dracut Committee on Government Rules and Regulations. He served as a member of the Dracut School Committee from 2005-2008 and the Greater Lowell Regional Voc-Tech School Committee from 1997-2009. Deeb is an Adjunct Professor of History/Government at Bunker Hill Community College and an Adjunct Political Science Instructor at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. He teaches Social Studies full-time at Reading Memorial High School.
