AMHERST — Former Superintendent Maria Geryk issued a stay-away order to a student’s mother on the advice of police officials after a series of incidents that she described as “highly charged” and “escalating,” according to an email from Geryk to Pelham School Committee members.
Those incidents raised concerns about the safety of students and staff at Pelham Elementary School, according to the email, which the Bulletin obtained through a public records request.
The undated email shows that Geryk took seriously the actions of Aisha Hiza, a parent who, beginning in 2015 and continuing into 2016, voiced dissatisfaction with the school’s response to conflicts between her daughter and another child at the school.
“On Tuesday, March 15 (2016), I served Aisha Hiza, a school choice parent at Pelham School, with a stay-away order,” Geryk wrote. “This action followed months of escalating issues. Ms. Hiza has been unhappy with the school’s response to a conflict between her daughter and another child and has been highly critical of her child’s teacher and Principal (Lisa) Desjarlais.”
“She addressed her concerns through highly charged phone calls, emails and personal interactions with school staff and administration,” Geryk wrote.
The email states that Geryk, Desjarlais, Marta Guevara, director of student achievement and accountability, and student services director Faye Brady met with Hiza and reached a mutually agreed upon communication plan last Nov. 19 to address the issues in a “respectful, productive manner.” However, Geryk wrote that this only worked for about six weeks “before communication reverted back to prior patterns.”
Hiza and her attorney, Matthew Cregor with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice, a nonprofit legal organization, both declined to comment for this story.
The stay-away order barred Hiza from school grounds and from contacting school officials. It was issued after school officials consulted with police, who advised that they issue the order.
After issuing the order, Geryk faced questions and criticisms from some School Committee members and people in the community, a conflict that preceded her decision to resign during the summer with $309,238 in severance pay from the district.
Cregor in August filed a public records request with the Amherst-Pelham Regional School District, signaling the first step of an investigation into the treatment of Hiza.
The Daily Hampshire Gazette and Bulletin are seeking through public records requests to learn more about Geryk’s decision and the response from elected officials. The newspaper requested meeting minutes from a May 5, 2016, executive session, held by the Pelham School Committee, as well as written correspondence between Geryk and committee members related to the stay-away order against Hiza. The papers also requested documentation on the school district’s experience with stay-away orders.
Debbie Westmoreland, records access officer for the district, wrote in an email last Thursday, Sept. 29, that the meeting minutes are not yet being released.
“With respect to minutes of the executive session held on May 5, 2016, please be advised that those minutes remain confidential because publication at this time would defeat the lawful purposes of the executive session,” Westmoreland wrote.
She added that even when the meeting minutes are released, “a significant portion of the material reviewed by the School Committee in the executive session will be subject to non-publication and/or redaction due to the fact it constitutes information relating to a specifically-named individual, the disclosure of which may constitute an unwarranted invasion of privacy.”
She wrote that the Pelham School Committee is reviewing the status of the May 5, 2016, executive session minutes “on an ongoing basis,” and that the matter is expected to be reviewed at the next meeting of the Pelham School Committee.
In the email to the Pelham members, Geryk defended her decision, writing that in addition to “highly charged communications” with school and district staff, Hiza allegedly made statements and comments “to, and about, Ms. Desjarlais that raised safety concerns.”
Hiza had lodged five formal complaints with the school district’s central office, which were investigated by human resources director Kathryn Mazur. She found that four of the complaints were unfounded while a fifth had been addressed, according to Geryk’s email
“Shortly after these findings were reported to Ms. Hiza, the district received credible information which expressed serious concerns about the safety of the students, staff, and administration of Pelham School,” Geryk’s email states. “Given the potential risk, Amherst Police Lieutenant Ronald Young and Pelham Police Chief Gary Thomann were consulted. They advised that a stay-away order be issued to Ms. Hiza as per safety protocol.”
“Our goal is always to work in partnership with parents/guardians in every way possible to address concerns,” Geryk continued. “Issuing a stay-away order is a step that would never be taken lightly or without careful consideration; however, the safety of our students and staff must always be given highest priority.”
On June 1, Westmoreland notified the chairpersons of the Pelham, Amherst and Amherst-Pelham Regional committees at the time — Tara Luce, Katherine Appy and Trevor Baptiste, respectively — that the stay-away order had ended.
“Maria asked me to notify you as the School Committee chairs that Ms. Hiza and Lisa Desjarlais participated in a successful conversation today, facilitated by Ombudsperson Paul Wiley. Therefore, the stay away order has been officially lifted, without restrictions, effective today.”
A public performance evaluation of Geryk was never completed, and individual evaluations from current and former members were released only after the committee agreed to pay Geryk $309,238 to end her tenure as superintendent.
But a string of emails obtained by the Bulletin shows that Laura Kent, committee chairwoman at the time, continued planning for a performance review to be done.
Even after the July 13 executive session, in which committee members began contemplating how to respond to demands laid out by an attorney representing Geryk, Kent was committed to having Geryk’s evaluation completed.
Kent first tried to have the evaluation on the agenda for a retreat scheduled for July 18, during which the committee would meet at Lewis-Sebring Commons at Valentine Hall on the Amherst College campus.
But Geryk, responding to Kent, expressed worry about the portions of the July 13 session she viewed on Amherst Media’s broadcast. At that meeting, Baptiste pushed for evaluations to be done before discussions would continue on a settlement.
“Laura, I watched the meeting tonight and was quite surprised and concerned throughout. I will need to speak with my attorney before discussing any adjustment to our agreed upon process,” Geryk wrote.
When that date came and went without a meeting, Kent sent an email Aug. 2 that a retreat, and the superintendent’s evaluation, would be done a week later.
“We would like to complete our superintendent evaluation for ‘15-’16 and to get an update regarding beginning of school initiatives (First Day Celebration, Project Backpacks, etc.),” Kent said.
Geryk’s responded by email, but then asked Kent to instead talk by phone.
“Thanks for connecting,” Geryk wrote. “Is there a way that we could connect by phone?”
That was the final written correspondence related to the evaluation. On Aug. 9, School Committee members voted to pay Geryk $309,238 to address her complaints of unfair treatment and end her tenure as superintendent.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
