June 4, 2024 By Carol Britton Meyer
The Hingham Education Association communicated a vote of no confidence in Chair Nes Correnti at Monday night’s School Committee meeting “following ongoing staffing and funding concerns.” (See attached press release provided to the Hingham Anchor by HEA President Jacqueline Beaupre.)
HEA members participated in a vote of no confidence in Correnti’s leadership of the Hingham Public Schools on May 30. The vote passed with 96 percent in favor.
HEA members cited five specific reasons for the vote of no confidence: “disregarding last year’s no confidence in Supt. Margaret Adams”; “payroll violations continuing to plague employees”; repeated failure to “fully fund Hingham Public Schools”; paraeducator shortages impacting student success; and “demoralizing and hypocritical negotiation tactics.”
Correnti responded at the meeting by thanking the HEA for their feedback and mentioned one point in particular “relating to the claim that I am not addressing the vote of no confidence you took on Dr. Adams in December. Massachusetts General Law is specific on the purpose of an evaluation of all educators: (a) to promote student learning, growth, and achievement by providing educators with feedback for improvement, enhanced opportunities for professional growth, and clear structures for accountability; and (b) to provide a record of facts and assessments for personnel decisions.”
The Code of Massachusetts Regulation (CMR) contains regulations established by state agencies pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act. “The [purpose of the] CMR is to ensure that every school committee has a system to enhance the professionalism and accountability of teachers and administrators that will enable them to assist all students to perform at high levels,” Correnti said.
She told the Hingham Anchor following the meeting that she printed out multiple copies of the CMR so they would be available. “However, there was nobody who came in person, other than Jacqueline,” she said.
Correnti explained at the meeting that the CMR “provides much information on the evaluation of an educator, including scope and purpose, evaluation cycle, evidence used in an evaluation, and implementation and reporting. The evaluation process for a superintendent and educator are not that different — there is a process. The one difference is that the superintendent’s evaluation is done in public. Our procedure is to complete the summative evaluation toward the end of the fiscal year. However that does not mean we do not meet to discuss feedback.”
While members of the HEA “recognize the importance of volunteers in local government, it is critical to hold them accountable for the work they do,” the press release states. “This vote of no confidence is meant to encourage deep reflection and change on the the part of Chair Nes Correnti, the Committee, and the community as a whole.”
Educators “have been sounding the alarm for over a year, and Chair Correnti has failed to listen or take meaningful action. Staff are concerned about the future funding and operations of Hingham Public Schools and do not always feel listened to or treated respectfully. We hope our vote will be taken seriously and encourage a change in individual actions or people elected. We stand ready to work with our elected officials for the benefit of Hingham students and community but need a willing partner to do so successfully,” Beaupre states in the press release.
Correnti ended her remarks by stating, “Again, I’m sorry you feel that way. I would encourage anyone who wants to run for office to do so — you can pull papers in January.”
Press Release provided to the Hingham Anchor by HEA President Jacqueline Beaupre:
Last Thursday over 400 members of the full Hingham Education Association participatedin a vote of No Confidence in School Committee Chair Nes Correnti’s leadership of Hingham Public Schools. Thevote passed with 96% voting in favor. After more than a year of staffing issues, wage violations, safety concerns,funding problems, expired contracts, and misleading information sent to the public regarding negotiations, staff acrossHingham’s six schools gathered to vote No Confidence in Chair Correnti’s leadership and express significant concernsto the community on behalf of their colleagues and students about the future of Hingham Public Schools. Staff did nottake this step lightly; they did so only after many months of discussion, reflection, and unsuccessful attempts toaddress the issues. HEA members cited 5 specific reasons for the vote of no confidence:
1. Disregarded the “No Confidence” Vote in Superintendent Adams. Last year, the HEA passed a vote of“No Confidence” in the Superintendent by over 96%. Chair Nes Correnti immediately disagreed, reassertedher full confidence, and dismissed the concerns as just a negotiation tactic.
2. Payroll violations continue to plague employees. The School Committee under Chair Correnti failed topay employees accurately and on time. The Committee denied grievances and has failed to resolve over 15wage law violations affecting hundreds of employees. In the absence of a settlement, violations will be takento the Attorney General.
3. Repeatedly failed to fully fund Hingham Public Schools. Last year, School Committee Chair Correntiagreed to unreasonably restrict school spending growth to 3.5% in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)to help pass an override. Combined with not passing an adequate budget, the School Departmentimmediately hit a financial crisis. Hingham citizens voted to violate the MOU at Town Meeting, increasing theSchool budget by moving $2 million from free cash. Chair Correnti voted against the motion. Following theTown Meeting, she then voted to use the overturned MOU language to reject the will of voters.
4. Paraeducator shortages impacting student success. Drawn out negotiations has furthered inadequateparaeducator wages and benefits, causing chronic understaffing and resulting in noncompliance on IEPs for over100 students across 3 schools. As in past years, several hundred thousand dollars budgeted for paraeducator paywas instead spent in other areas to balance the budget, while their wages remained at poverty levels.
5. Demoralizing and hypocritical negotiation tactics. Despite passionate words about protecting socialemotional health, Chair Correnti has repeatedly used the district’s email list server, website, social media, andnews media to send out mass communications that demoralize, demean, and attempt to silence staff. Shespread misinformation about negotiations, perpetuated a union-busting narrative that negotiations were thecause of layoffs rather than poor budgeting, and disparaged staff engaged in protected labor actions. She hasmessaged staff who express opposing views on social media in unwelcome ways, raising concerns aboutretaliation against staff and other stakeholders. Additionally, despite a verbal commitment to helping educatorsachieve a better health insurance premium split, the educators were stonewalled when they brought this topicto negotiations. There have also been threats of no retro pay if negotiations go past June 30th.
While members of the HEA recognize the importance of volunteers in local government, it is critical to hold themaccountable for the work they do. This vote of no confidence is meant to encourage deep reflection and change onthe part of Chair Nes Correnti, the Committee, and the community as a whole.
Jacqueline Beaupre, teacher and HEA President stated, “Educators have been sounding the alarm for over a year andChair Correnti has failed to listen or take meaningful action. Staff are concerned about the future funding and operationsof Hingham Public Schools and do not always feel listened to or treated respectfully. We hope our vote will be takenseriously and encourage a change in individual actions or people elected. We stand ready to work with our electedofficials for the benefit of Hingham students and community, but need a willing partner to do so successfully.”
