Education

‘Too many concerns’: School committee chair offers context after ‘ladies’ controversy

The Easthampton School Committee's concerns about a superintendent finalist stretched beyond his use of the word "ladies," the chairperson said.

A crowd gathered outside the Easthampton Municipal Building Monday night in protest after the school committee reportedly rescinded Dr. Vito Perrone's superintendent job offer over his use of the word "ladies" in an email. Shawn Sheehan/Courtesy Photo

By Abby Patkin

April 7, 2023

3 minutes to read

After Easthampton made international headlines with its decision to rescind a superintendent finalist’s job offer, the school official at the center of the controversy spoke out to say there’s more to the story than the candidate’s use of the word “ladies.”

Dr. Vito Perrone previously told the Daily Hampshire Gazette that the city’s school committee withdrew his offer last week after he used the word “ladies” in an email to Chairperson Cynthia Kwiecinski discussing contract negotiations. He alleged that Kwiecinski told him the term was a microaggression.

In an emailed statement to the Gazette Thursday, Kwiecinski shared her side of the story.

“The general feeling was that there were too many concerns before we had even begun negotiating the rest of the contract and alarm bells were going off,” she told the newspaper. Kwiecinski has not responded to Boston.com’s requests for comment.

Easthampton’s superintendent search

The school committee voted 4-3 last month to hire Perrone, the interim superintendent of schools in West Springfield and one of three superintendent finalists. After receiving his initial contract, Perrone emailed Kwiecinski and Executive Assistant Suzanne Colby to negotiate his salary and ask for 30 vacation days and 40 sick days per year, the Daily Hampshire Gazette reported.

He addressed the women as “ladies” in his greeting.

Vito Perrone, a middle-aged man with short gray hair and a goatee, wearing a suit and smiling for the camera. — Dr. Vito Perrone, currently the interim superintendent of schools in West Springfield.

Kwiecinski told the Gazette that she was insulted by Perrone’s tone, and that most of her fellow committee members believed it was “extremely unprofessional” and “inappropriate” of Perrone to address the chairperson “with a familiarity that he had not earned.” Committee member Laurie Garcia told the newspaper that Kwiecinski’s statement was sent without input from the full committee.

“While I speak informally most of the time, if I am addressing a public official — especially in written communication, and even more so if engaged in salary negotiations — I would always use formal titles,” Kwiecinski told the Gazette. Boston.com has reached out to Perrone for comment.

Colby, the other email recipient, wrote in a public Facebook post Wednesday that she was not offended by Perrone’s choice of words, though she is respectful of others who feel differently.

“I want to be clear, I am a Lady,” Colby wrote. “I appreciate being called such and I appreciate being treated as such. To me, the word represents respect.”

More to the story?

Aside from Perrone’s tone, Kwiecinski told the Gazette that school committee members also felt his salary requests were “unreasonable” and had concerns about the amount of paid time off he wanted. She also noted the committee’s inability to reach Perrone on March 23 after voting to extend him a job offer.

Perrone previously told the Gazette that he fell asleep around 10:15 p.m. that night, thinking his phone was on. After several attempts to contact him after 11 p.m., the school committee sent a police officer to Perrone’s home for a wellness check, according to the newspaper.

The superintendent should be “available as needed 24/7, with reasonable allowances for personal matters and other obligations,” Kwiecinski told the Gazette. “Having expressly told him that we would need to speak with him, we were troubled by his lack of response and by his explanation.”

Perrone, for his part, told the Gazette it was unreasonable for the committee to call him that late at night and then request a wellness check.

The school committee is set to resume its superintendent search in a remote meeting on Monday at 6 p.m. Committee members previously attempted to meet last Tuesday, but the meeting was cut short when hundreds attempted to join the Zoom session and maxed out the capacity.

Despite the controversy, Perrone told the Gazette that he would still love to work for Easthampton.

“I love Easthampton. I do,” he told the newspaper. “But I’m not sure if there is a way forward.”