Bristol-Plymouth superintendent is 'un-retiring.' Why and what do teachers think?

TAUNTON — Several months after publicly announcing his retirement, Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical SchoolSuperintendent Alexandre Magalhaes has changed his mind.

At the May 1 School Committee meeting Magalhaes told the room he was rescinding his previous declaration, originally conveyed to the public during the Dec. 6, 2023 meeting.

According to Cynthia Roy, a B-P science teacher, Magalhaes gave no reason for the change.

“No dialogue or rationale was given,” she said.

Magalhaes did not respond to messages from The Gazette asking for comment on this change of plans.

Vote happened very quickly

Immediately after his announcement, the School Committee made a motion and unanimously voted to accept Magalhaes' rescinding of his retirement.

School Committee member and Taunton City Councilor Estele Borges said she made the motion for a vote because she felt it was “much cleaner” for the public record that way.

Roy said the announcement and vote both happened so fast you would have missed it if you stepped out of the room for a moment.

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Relief from school committee

A letter between Magalhaes and School Committee Chair Louis Borges, Jr., attached to the December 1, 2023, meeting agenda, indicates the Superintendent would have retired in January 2025.

Estele Borges said she believes the whole school committee was relieved by the decision Magalhaes made.

Borges said the combination of numerous members of the administration also planning to retirement in 2025, coupled with the construction of the new school building slated to be complete in the fall of 2026 made Magalhaes’ leaving even more difficult for the school.

“I selfishly didn’t want to lose him in the process. It would have been too many transitions at once,” she said, adding the superintendent’s decision to stay on longer “is what is needed at this time.”

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Teachers critical of superintendent ... and selection process to replace him

For months now the Bristol-Plymouth Teacher’s Association has engaged contentiously with the School Committee over the process for hiring a new superintendent, demanding more transparency and involvement in the search, including the screening and interviewing of candidates.

Nearly 1,000 emailed letters from BPTA members and its supporters were sent to the School Committee through an online petition program.

Just before the April 3 School Committee meeting, Tasha Cordero, president of the teachers union, told the Gazette “The Bristol-Plymouth school committee “exhibits disdain and animosity towards teachers, never truly believing or listening to us” and the school has had “a poor climate and low morale under the current superintendent’s leadership for a decade, and have had a high turnover of staff as a result, more so than ever before.”

Cordero wasn’t present at the May 1 school committee meeting, but was getting text messages in real time from fellow teachers when the announcement and vote occurred.

She said this came as a “complete surprise” to people in the room, as well as her, and it wasn’t something anticipated based on the agenda, which only provides bullet-pointed topics, but not any details regarding its nature on the agenda.

Selection process was in early stages

Back at the April 3 meeting, Joe Emerson, attorney for the school district, said state law gives the School Committee sole authority to hire, as well as choose the hiring process for the superintendent.

Estele Borges, who was part of the Personnel Subcommittee for the School Committee before Magalhaes rescinded his retirement, reiterated that all that was done was they advertised for the position and accepted applications.

“We had no process yet in place,” she said, adding there wasn’t even yet a makeup of what the selection committee would look like.

She said the committee had already agreed to bring the final candidates before a public hearing where members of the teachers union could ask their own questions. Aside from that, Borges said no other decisions had been made regarding the search and screening process.

Teachers react to Magalhaes 'unretiring'

Cordero said even though no reason was given by Magalhaes for his rescinding his retirement, the BPTA considers this a small victory.

“From our standpoint, this is a good thing. While we were looking forward to new leadership, our goal was that someone wasn’t hastily moved into that position, and our concern was we didn’t have a voice here,” Cordero said.

Cynthia Roy agreed, saying the BPTA’s stance “disrupted the status quo” that lets the School Committee choose the next superintendent on the teachers’ and school community’s behalf.

“It’s a reminder we don’t accept how things are,” Roy said.

Cordero concluded by saying the BPTA continues to “want an active role” in the future selection process for the next superintendent, that “we’re not asking for anything out of the norm,” and Magalhaes’ rescinding of his retirement “gives us more time to work towards that goal.”

This article originally appeared on The Taunton Daily Gazette: B-P Superintendent is not retiring after all. What do teachers think?