Sheils stepping down from post
Published on July 16th, 2003
STONEHAM, MA - Along with a myriad of funding and program cuts to contend with, the School Committee suffered another loss last week as member David Sheils submitted his resignation after two years on the committee.
Sheils advised the committee of his intention through a letter first submitted to Chairman Marc Grimaldi on July 3, and read aloud at last Thursday's meeting. The resignation was effective Friday, July 11.
While Sheils stated that he has enjoyed serving the community as a member of the School Committee, his decision was not a difficult one.
"My wife, Christine Sheils, has submitted her name to be considered for the position of School Nurse within the Stoneham Public Schools. The Stoneham School Committee Policy 8-3 Employment of Relatives prohibits my wife from being hired for this position while I am on the committee," Sheils said.
Once the decision was made by the Sheils family regarding whether or not Christine would pursue employment within the Stoneham system, where she had served as a substitute nurse in previous years, David researched the regulations regarding whether or not his membership on the School Committee would hinder her chance for full job consideration.
State law on the matter revealed that Sheils could continue to serve on the School Committee as long as he gave public notice of the possible employment. Chapter 71, Section 67 of Massachusetts General Law states "A school district shall neither (i) employ a member of the immediate family of the superintendent, central office administrator, or school committee member ... unless written notice is given to the school committee of the proposal to employ or assign such person at least two weeks in advance of such person's employment..."
Yet on further review of the School Committee's regulations, he learned that Stoneham has a much stricter policy.
"The Stoneham school system shall not employ a relative of an employee who would be that employee's supervisor or would be responsible for the evaluations of that employee or who is a relative of a member of the School Committee," Stone-ham's policy states.
"I realized I had only one option and that was to step down," Sheils said.
While hiring for the School Nurse position is still about a week away, according to School Superintendent Joseph Conn-elly, Sheils stated that his decision to step down stems from the desire to remove any potential appearance of conflict of interest regarding the employment opportunity that his wife has decided to pursue.
"While I certainly do wish that I could remain a member, any hint of conflict of interest would act as a detriment to the integrity of the entire Stoneham School Committee"
Sheils was first appointed to the board following the resignation of former member Mary Pecoraro, who was elected to the Board of Selectmen in 2001. Sheils was subsequently elected to a three-year term.
In filling the vacancy, the School Committee must submit notification to the Board of Selectmen which in turn will post the opening. Interested candidates will submit letters of interest to the Board and an appointment will be made by both the School Committee and Board of Selectmen. The appointee will fill the vacancy until the next general election in April 2004. An election is expected at that time to fulfill the final year of Sheils' term..
"I applaud him for what he's doing," said Connelly. "We're certainly going to miss him."
Sheils has valued his time on the School Committee and is appreciative for the support shown him by the public as well as the school administration and staff.
"I tried to take in more information than I doled out," Sheils said of his style of listening to the issues and the various accompanying points of view. "I've always tried to keep an even keel and remember why I was doing this ... This was not about politics or ego. This was about finding the best possible solutions and making the best decisions for the kids."
"It's been a lot of fun and very interesting. I've learned a lot about funding ... and how the state works."
While his leaving will likely lighten the load of a very busy School Committee schedule, Sheils said that he will remain involved.
"I assure you that while I may no longer be a member of the committee, as a parent I will continue to follow the actions of this committee and be a supporter of the Stoneham Public Schools."
In the event that his wife does not get the job for which she has applied, Sheils said he will submit his name for consideration of reappointment to the School Committee.
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