After the shocking news in December that a Pittsfield High School administrator was facing federal charges for large-scale cocaine trafficking, other staffers at the public school were placed on leave amid misconduct allegations. The results of an independent, third-party inquest into the situation by Springfield law firm Bulkley Richardson & Gelinas launched at the end of 2024 are now starting to come to light.
“I'm hereby notifying the school committee and the public that the first part of the investigation led by retired Superior Court Judge Mary-Lou Rup into allegations of wrongdoing that have been made against certain Pittsfield Public Schools employees has been completed," said School committee chair Dr. William Cameron at the body’s February 26th meeting. “What has been received pertains to allegations made against Pittsfield High School dean of students Molly West. The investigator's detailed report finds the allegations made against Ms. West to be unsustained.”
Responding to a question from a member of the public, Cameron said the school committee will still undertake a second investigation into the district’s hiring practices on top of the inquest into staff misconduct claims.
“It is still the intention of the school committee to secure the services of an outside consultant or firm to review our hiring practices and the steps that we take to vet candidates for positions," said the chair. "That isn't in place yet, but the other investigation is still ongoing, so we do intend to complete both of them."
Vice Chair Daniel Elias said the update offers a moment of reflection for the Pittsfield community after weeks of speculation, outrage, and calls for justice.
“I always view it as, what if it was your brother or your sister or someone that you love?" he said. "Wouldn’t you want a full accounting of facts to come forward first, before publicly and in the media, in the social media specifically, we find these individuals guilty? Because in this one particular case, this person didn't do anything wrong. And I just hope going forward that people have a little bit more sympathy and just some decency when it comes to individuals, because their families and people who love them are watching. And again, what if it was your brother and your sister or your mother or someone that you love? Wouldn't you want some justice for them? Just to wait and see what the facts are?”
Last month, Pittsfield Public Schools Superintendent Joe Curtis announced that he will resign in June after scathing criticism of his leadership of the district over the PHS staffing controversy. The school committee debated the options of seeking out a permanent replacement versus opting for an interim appointment.
Cameron said only two real options beyond doing nothing make sense for the school committee.
“One of them is to conduct a full-bore search, looking for a long-term replacement for Mr. Curtis, which would have to take place between now, which is the end of February, and certainly no later, [and] would have to be completed by no later than the beginning to the middle of June if we hope to have any kind of transition," he said. "That is a pretty compacted schedule. The other alternative is that we seek to secure the services of an interim superintendent for some or all of the coming school year.”
Committee member William Garrity opted for the latter.
“I think we should go the interim route, be able to provide at least some continuity while also allowing us to conduct a more full search," he said. "We're also coming up on election season- The school committee composition may change, so that's also another fact we have to consider.”
Cameron put forward the date of July 1st for the interim candidate search to begin.
“I don't think this ought to be left up to one individual," he said. "I'm going to suggest that the personnel subcommittee oversee the search for one or more candidates for the interim position, then bring the one or more candidates back to the school committee for a public interview, and then we can decide what to do.”
The school committee also voted to delay a grade restructuring project for the city’s middle schools for another year and to re-affirm its support for transgender students at the meeting.
Audio from the meeting was provided by Pittsfield Community Television.
