DCF: 51A Filed Against Curtis Middle School Administrator
Peter Fardig is the second person this year employed at Sudbury Public Schools to face accusations against a student.
Peter Fardig, the Curtis Middle School administrator who was put on leave Thursday by Superintendent Anne Wilson, is facing a possibly similar fate former Noyes Elementary School teacher Janice Donahue suffered through earlier this year after it was learned he is facing a 51A report.
Cayenne Isaksen of the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families confirmed in an email on Saturday that a 51A report has been filed against Fardig, but did not go into further details about the case.
Fardig is being forced to stay quiet on the matter, he told Sudbury Patch when reached at his home Friday afternoon.
"I'm not supposed to comment," he said.
According to an email sent to parents by Wilson late Thursday, Fardig was placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation into "certain allegations."
When asked if he was told what those allegations were, Fardig replied: "I can’t tell you anything. It's still an ongoing investigation."
Wilson's secretary said she was out of her office and in meetings the rest of the business day Friday.
In her email, Wilson said the law prevents her from discussing the matter, but did say it did not involve "any threatened harm to students."
"Because the investigation is ongoing, we have made no final determination as to the merits of the allegations," she said in the email.
According to Fardig's LinkedIn page, he's been an assistant principal, grade level administrator at Curtis since July 2011, when he was hired by then Superintendent John Brackett.
Before that, he was a K-8 science curriculum coordinator for SPS beginning in September 2010.
His other experience includes positions with Nantucket Public Schools, Brighton Public Schools and Caledonia-Mumford Elementary School in New York.
This is the third personnel-related matter Wilson has been embroiled in since joining SPS in 2011.
In November 2011, she fired secretary Diane LaChapelle, who has since sued SPS and the Town of Sudbury in a wrongful termination suit. That case is still pending.
And earlier this year, Donahue was dismissed by Wilson for reasons that were never made clear. Donahue and SPS ultimately came to a financial settlement over the matter.
ron darden
8:10 pm on Saturday, October 13, 2012
Uh oh...here we go again - From PATCH Sept 5:
"Superintendent Anne Wilson filed a 51A report to the Department of Children and Services regarding a scuffle between two students that Donahue broke up. DCF responded by stating there was no proof Donahue physically abused those children."
So Wilson filed a 51A at great cost to the community in terms of dollars and divisivenss, which was found to be baseless by the State Dept of Ed! Has the School Committee done anything about this, other than praise Wilson and pat themselves on the back for making such a great hire?
Also, Wilson has repeatedly said no member of SPS can legally discuss the matter.
But what we find is that SPS themselves put the confidentiality clause in the settlement agreement. (see clause 6, Patch online for pdf)
SueChap
8:39 am on Sunday, October 14, 2012
are confidentiality clauses legal in taxpayer funded agencies?
SueChap
8:40 am on Sunday, October 14, 2012
if wilson will leave, we promise total confidentiality that she is a trouble making power hungry superintendent.
Glorius Day
7:50 pm on Sunday, October 14, 2012
apparently this is Ms Wilson's modus operandi from before....in the Brookline School System. We can expect more of this
2Labs
9:29 pm on Sunday, October 14, 2012
After seeing the stoney, smug, unresponsive faces of the school committee and Ms. Wilson, as dozens of parents waited for hours and spoke with honesty and emotion, and knowing that sps could indeed share facts as other towns have, if they chose to( google it).....I am so relieved to have left sudbury schools. my son is in private school this year, and the head administrator recently said to me: "the faculty makes the school." A different perspective, and a lot less power trip.
2Labs
9:33 pm on Sunday, October 14, 2012
...not to mention the thousands of dollars in lawyers fees we are paying for all this with our taxes.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
8:34 pm on Monday, October 15, 2012
Calm down folks, complaining about "our taxes" like a bunch of twelve year-olds wont us you anywhere. It's not like your taxes were ever going to do anything actually productive for the community.
marcojbertron
8:22 pm on Tuesday, October 16, 2012
even stevie wonder could see the superintendent is a problem