Full Renewal Unlikely for Schools Superintendent

As Superintendent of Schools Thomas Fowler-Finn’s future hangs in the balance, two veteran School Committee members—Joseph G. Grassi and Alfred Fantini—are pushing to extend Fowler-Finn’s contract for an additional year.

Under the plan, Fowler-Finn’s tenure would end in August 2008 instead of August 2007, and the School Committee would debate giving Fowler-Finn a long-term contract next summer.

Grassi and Fantini said yesterday that extending the term by a year would give the schools an additional year of data to evaluate. More cynically, it would also give the district an additional year to find a new superintendent.

In contrast to Grassi and Fantini’s compromise proposal, Mayor Kenneth E. Reeves ’72 and School Committee member Nancy Walser remain at the poles. The former is Fowler-Finn’s strongest opponent, and the latter his strongest supporter.

The three who are likely to decide Fowler-Finn’s fate are freshmen committee members Patricia M. Nolan ’80 and Luc D. Schuster—who have frequently been at odds with the superintendent—and sophomore member Richard Harding.

In an interview yesterday, Nolan said that despite her deep reservations about Fowler-Finn, Grassi and Fantini’s proposal no longer makes the vote a clear up-or-down referendum.

“I’m still deliberating how to vote, and part of the reason is that my colleagues are proposing a one-year extension that is very different from a three- or four-year extension,” Nolan said.

But this did not stop her from criticizing Fowler-Finn for his poor interpersonal skills, saying in a statement that the “partnerships with the community, respect for parents, [and the] treatment of staff” were areas that the superintendent has continually fared poorly.

“The reason those things all matter is not ‘just’ personality,” she said. “They affect performance, morale, confidence in the system, and ultimately the type of education our children receive.”

Given the public statements of the officials, it is highly unlikely that Fowler-Finn will receive a three- or four-year renewal this summer. Fantini and Grassi support a one-year extension, and Reeves and Nolan have very seldom had any praise for Fowler-Finn. Even if Schuster—who is no friend of the school administration—and Harding were to side with Walser, they would still be one vote short of reauthorizing the contract.

The School Committee will meet next on July 18, though it is not clear if action will be taken then on Fowler-Finn’s contract. There are also discussions about having a closed executive session for the committee members July 25, one week after the public meeting on July 18.

—Staff writer Paras D. Bhayani can be reached at pbhayani@fas.harvard.edu.