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We Pay Cash For Your Gauthier hits City and School Committee with age discrimination lawsuit By Christopher Roberson O ne year after shocking the district with her resignation, Janice Gauthier, former interim Superintendent of Schools, fi led a lawsuit, claiming age discrimination, against the City of Everett, Mayor Carlo DeMaria, the School Committee and its Chairman, Frank Parker. In his Complaint filed on March 10 in Middlesex Superior Court, Attorney David Fulmer, counsel for Gauthier, said his client was the district’s curriculum director for 13 years. On March 3, 2019, Gauthier entered into a Memorandum of Agreement and Understanding with the School Committee to officially become the interim superintendent. The third page of the agreement stated: “In the event that the interim superintendent is not appointed as the new permanent superintendent of schools at the conclusion of the committee’s search process, the committee and interim superintendent agree that the interim superintendent may return to the position of curriculum director and shall therefore be eligible for the salary and benefi ts related to that prior position without any loss of any benefi ts or rights.” Gauthier went on to serve as the interim superintendent for the next 15 months. However, during that time, Michelle Crowell, former principal of the Parlin School, was selected as the district’s new curriculum director. “The defendants SCHOOL | FROM PAGE 1 She also said total salaries now sit at $108 million and represent nearly 60 percent of the budget. In contrast, last year’s salaries totaled $88.2 million. Within this year’s fi gure, Jayanth said, teacher salaries total $59 million, up from $54.7 million last year. She said out-of-district tuition for special education students is projected to increase by 16 percent and transportation costs are expected to increase by 12 percent. Jayanth also said Chapter 70 funding has climbed from $75 million last year to $83.6 million this year. The city’s required contribution also went up by $1 million and is now at $36.4 million. In addition, Jayanth said a For Advertising with Results, call The Advocate Newspapers at 617-387-2200 or Info@advocatenews.net major effort will be needed to assist students who have struggled academically as a and I couldn’t get an interview: that’s what hurts.” Following the appointment Janice Gauthier, former interim Superintendent of Schools, recently fi led an age discrimination lawsuit against the City of Everett and the School Committee. (File Photo) failed to protect her position and fi lled her prior post with a third person of less caliber, less qualifi cations and did so with the intention of sanitizing the school system,” said Fulmer. He also said that despite 49 years in the Everett Public Schools, Gauthier was never considered for the permanent superintendent position as she had worked under former Superintendent Frederick Foresteire. Gauthier shared her level of disdain after the four superintendent finalists were announced during the School Committee meeting on November 13, 2019. “I stepped up when this city needed somebody the most and I couldn’t get an interview,” she said. “Forty-nine years in this district result of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We must make bold decisions based on the needs of our students,” she said. This awesome task would be accomplished by hiring additional staff to address students’ social/emotional needs, bolstering tutoring services and expanding afterschool programming. Therefore, $3.7 million would be used for instructional rigor, $3 million would be for supplemental supplies, $1.4 million would be for health and safety while $355,658 would be for customized family support. School Committee Chairman Frank Parker said that unlike in prior years, this year’s budget will be presented in a much more concise format. “We’re going to budget by school; that’s one of the things you’re going to see this year,” he said. “We haven’t had that type of granularity in the past.” of current Superintendent Priya Tahiliani in March 2020, Fulmer said, the School Committee directed Gauthier to return to her prior position, which remained fi lled. “The plaintiff was not able to resume her post and by virtue of her age, now 70 years old, has been unlawfully, illegally, improperly and maliciously deprived of her means of livelihood,” said Fulmer, adding that Gauthier was “constructively terminated from further employment.” “This directive placed the plaintiff in a politically and embarrassing situation of having to return to a position which was no longer available. The plaintiff was entitled to equal consideration and equal protection under the law.” At that time, school officials indicated that on February 29, 2020, Gauthier agreed to remain on staff as a senior advisor to Tahiliani. However, she submitted her resignation 72 hours later. “Call it retirement, call it resigning – she quit,” Parker said during an interview immediately following Gauthier’s departure. The City of Everett, the School Committee, DeMaria and Parker are now being sued for Breach of Contract, Malicious Interference With Contractual Relations, Breach of the Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing as well as Violation of The Plaintiff ’s Constitutional Rights. Parker also said the proposed budget increase of $18.9 million is “long overdue.” “Due to an antiquated state formula, Everett has been underfunded for years,” he said, adding that in 2015 state offi - cials determined that the number of students receiving free and reduced lunches would no longer be used to gauge a district’s poverty level. Since then, Parker said, the Everett Public Schools have been losing upwards of $6 million per year. “The Student Opportunity Act, led by Senator [Sal] DiDomenico, was passed to change that,” said Parker. “We started March 2020 thinking we were going to get an additional $7 million but we didn’t – another victim of COVID. With this proposed budget, we can now address and battle the next pandemic – the pandemic of social/emotional issues and learning loss.”
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