2024 ended with multiple staffers at Pittsfield High School put on leave amid investigations after the high-profile arrest of a prominent administrator. Once news broke that Dean of Students Lavante Wiggins would face federal charges for large-scale cocaine trafficking, a torrent of allegations of misconduct followed. Eventually, Superintendent Joseph Curtis announced he would depart at the end of the school year. As a current student told the school committee Wednesday night, the impact on the school itself has been brutal.
“It's safe to say that this past year, particularly last three months, have been by far the most difficult and tumultuous period for all of us as a school community. The tension, the uncertainty, and the emotions that have surrounded us during this time are painfully evident to everyone in this room, to everyone watching at home, and to every citizen of Pittsfield who has followed the events that have unfolded," said PHS senior Emma Goetze. “Despite all the challenges that we faced, I can say with confidence as a student who walks these halls every day that the atmosphere inside our school has been noticeably calmer in recent weeks. For many of us, the overwhelming stress that has loomed over us has solely started to fade, replaced by a feeling of tentative hope and healing.”
However, Goetze says that sense of progress is facing a challenge.
One of the staffers caught up in the chaos – Dean of Students Molly West – has returned to PHS after being cleared by a state-led investigation.
“I am appalled, deeply disappointed and frustrated that an administrator who is placed on leave, someone who has caused significant discomfort and distress to so many students, has been allowed to return to our building," Goetze continued. "Let me be clear- Simply the thought of this individual being back and walking back through our halls is enough to make many of us feel tense and anxious. The emotional and psychological toll this has taken on some students cannot be overstated. I understand that there is an investigation, and acknowledge that this individual was cleared, but it feels incredibly unjust to me and to many of my peers that despite everything, this person is being given the opportunity to come back.”
Committee Chair Dr. William Cameron stressed that West has been thoroughly exonerated and has every right to her livelihood and good name being restored after multiple investigations.
“Social media allegations made against her in December, which then regrettably were widely publicized, were not new," he said. "They had been heard, investigated, and found meritless by other school districts many years ago. Nevertheless, they were disinterred recently by someone providing neither evidence nor a credible source, and then reinvestigated twice in the last three months.”
One of the investigations was by the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families, which found the child abuse claims against West to be unsupported by fact or evidence.
“The other investigation was conducted by a respect respected Springfield law firm with no previous ties to the city of Pittsfield or the Pittsfield Public Schools," Cameron continued. "Its lead investigator was a retired superior court judge with a strong reputation in the legal community for impartiality and thoroughness. After an exhaustive investigation, she found that there was no evidence to substantiate the accusations made against Ms. West. No evidence means precisely that: None. As a result, Ms. West returned to work at Pittsfield High School last week.”
Cameron acknowledged that members of the Pittsfield community were keeping rumors about West alive despite multiple investigations clearing her.
“When there is no substance to be found in accusations of wrongdoing, fairness, as a matter of both law and human decency, requires not that we gratuitously penalize someone for wrongdoing that's unsubstantiated by unbiased investigations," said the chair. "Rather, as a matter of both law and human decency, we are required to move on, and that is precisely what the district's administration has done in this case. If unsubstantiated accusations of wrongdoing can be the grounds for ending someone's employment, then no one's job is safe.”
Another PHS student, freshman Ronan Conway, also expressed frustration over the district’s handling of a social media threat against the city’s high schools. While a police investigation revealed the post was of a harmless gel blaster toy, not a real gun, the Pittsfield Public Schools’ handling of the information around the threat has faced widespread condemnation in the community.
“My mother, my siblings and my father were deeply, deeply disturbed by this news, and I'm overwhelmingly upset that they were not informed earlier, and that there was not even a delay- I completely get not dismissing the school day, and I completely support that, but maybe a two-hour delay, or perhaps even sending out an email to the parents the morning of or the night of to let the parents make that decision for themselves if they want to risk their child's life,” he said.
Conway stressed to the committee that being a student in the era of school shootings represents an endless existential threat.
“It's very scary, very overwhelming, to go into that school not knowing what's happening, seeing administrators and teachers around the school without being informed at all," the student continued. "My classmates were also very frightened by this, not knowing what was happening. It's scarring, really, to have this hit home, because we always think that it's got to be another family, another school, but by not informing administrators, or not informing the parents, really, the night of to have them make that decision is irresponsible, reckless, and disturbing, really."
Outgoing Superintendent Curtis, no stranger to explaining botched district crisis responses to the Pittsfield community, offered a familiar explanation.
“I had absolutely no knowledge of this until 7:27, this morning when the Emergency Coordinator texted me," said Curtis. "I was actually in route to Taconic High School as we were leading a District Leadership Council meeting.”
He blamed the Pittsfield Police Department for the communication snafu.
“We have no communications director or somebody in charge, and I will say, if it's a detailed communication, we have to have the approval of the Pittsfield Police Department," explained Curtis. "They are the authority, they give us the go ahead, they make the determination if the school site is safe or something's unfounded. And so, although we deliver the information, we don't do- We do so in partnership with the with the Pittsfield Police Department.”
Curtis said security at both Pittsfield High School and Taconic High School had been increased after the threat.
WAMC has reached out to the Pittsfield Police Department for comment on this story.
