Re: MAGIC OF DR. RIZZI

Mr. Soares, I like the phrase you coined: Magic of Rizzi!

This sounds much more pleasant than people calling us, the school committee members, being the superintendent’s lap-dogs or drinking the Kool-Aid. Unfortunately, this situation will not get better until Stoughton elects a school committee that will hold the superintendent accountable. However, our voters are not yet sufficiently fed up to implement change. In April 2013, there were two school committee candidates (Pat MacNeil and Debra Smith Cote) who wanted to hold the administration accountable.  She lost the election by only 60 votes. Currently, the nominations are open for the school committee elections next spring. I wonder if anyone other than the two incumbents is going to turn in their nomination papers.

 Dr. Rizzi is not a good educational leader for our Town. Furthermore, she appears to be incompetent as an administrator. However, Dr. Rizzi has demonstrated formidable political skills by controlling the local press and keeping the majority of the School Committee, Finance Committee and the Town Meeting members under her thumb.

Dr. Rizzi currently lives and used to work in Hull, Massachusetts. Allegations have been circulating among the teachers and parents that Stoughton Public Schools has hired, and is still hiring many employees for key positions from Hull. On several occasions, I urged Dr. Rizzi to either dispel or confirm the rumors by disclosing how many employees we have hired from Hull, for what positions they were hired, and, if requested, their qualifications. She always chose to remain silent.

In the past, Dr. Rizzi created conflicts with the Stoughton Police Department, Stoughton Procurement Manager, Stoughton Town Manager, Teachers Union, and with the Stoughton Town Charter. She and some school committee members did not hesitate to wage brutal battles against their targets. They even waged a malicious public war against a disobedient school committee member.