A seven-month investigation of Graham & Parks principal Kathleen Smith by a team hired by Cambridge Public Schools has determined that the allegations of a toxic work environment “were not substantiated.”
“The district is hopeful that this resolution, along with the additional supports being directed toward fostering a more inclusive and constructive learning environment, will enable the Graham & Parks community to move forward with confidence in the leadership and direction of the school,” interim district superintendent David Murphy said in a Monday email.
“A review of the credible evidence does not support a finding of a toxic workplace. The evidence demonstrates that staff have had a variety of experiences under Dr. Smith’s leadership, some extremely positive, supportive and energizing, and others much less so,” investigators concluded.
The city retained the law firm of Norris, Murray & Peloquin for the investigation, which talked with more than 80 people, Murphy said.
Despite those findings, the district said it is putting significant resources into trying to heal the school.
Smith was hired as the principal of the 370-student Graham & Parks elementary school in Neighborhood 9 in spring 2022. Parent communities became divided over Smith’s leadership style, which some called disruptive and divisive, dismissive of family input and tending toward favoritism of a few.
A group called the Graham & Parks Caregiver Coalition circulated a petition and letters in late 2023 signed by as many as 130 people asking Smith to “follow the democratic practices” at the “heart and soul” of G&P school culture and complaining to the district about the conflict. Then members discovered that Smith left the Newton Public School district in 2019 after an internal investigation there found that she had created a “toxic work environment.”
The district’s hiring practices had missed the investigation and another lawsuit against Smith, which was settled.
The investigator found that “internal administrative policies suggested that at least one additional reference check should have been completed” before Smith’s appointment but that there was “no evidence that doing so would have altered the hiring outcome,” Murphy said. At Graham & Parks, the investigator found that “many of the incidents reported seemed minor in contrast to the reactions they produced.”
Investigation began in January
At parents’ urging, the district launched an investigation using outside attorneys in January. In the spring, problems at the school became another example of then-superintendent Victoria Greer’s controversial hiring practices – an issue complained about by families and staff at various schools and by members of the School Committee. Greer was voted out 5-2 by the School Committee in May.
“Based on the extensive public attention the situation received last school year, interim superintendent Murphy concluded it was in the best interest of the Graham & Parks School community to communicate the outcome of this matter,” district spokesperson Sujata Wycoff said on Monday. “Given the confidentiality owed to all parties involved with respect to personnel records and information, the Cambridge Public Schools will not be making any additional comments regarding the now-concluded investigation.”
Still, Murphy said, “It is evident that the 2023 – 2024 school year was a difficult one for the Graham & Parks.”
Smith has “made clear how eager she is to lead the Graham & Parks toward greater equity and improved outcomes for students. Her steadfast commitment to the school’s children is readily apparent,” Murphy said.
Additional supports
The additional supports mentioned by the district include, according to Wycoff:
During the first weeks of school, Smith and Murphy will meet with members of the Graham & Parks staff to “engage and listen to what specific steps educators feel will help affirm and/or restore the sense of community for which the school has long been known.” A town hall will be held in September with parents and caregivers.
Former principal and district director of family engagement Robin Harris, now a special adviser to the superintendent, will be based at Graham & Parks starting the first day of school. Her responsibilities will be focused on “facilitating discussions with both staff and families about how to foster a strong school climate that is grounded in equity and driven by data.”
Harris and Murphy, along with Michelle Madera, assistant superintendent for elementary schools, will convene small group discussions with Graham & Parks staff and families to “learn more about their experiences and what systems might be helpful to ensure a constructive and positive school climate.”
A working group of central office administrators will be tasked with “prioritizing the cultivation of a listening-oriented but student-centered environment at Graham & Parks consistent with their areas of expertise in curriculum implementation, data-based accountability and social and emotional wellness.”
School parent Francis Bingham said the findings of the report were “disappointing,” and it was clear from the resources promised by the district that there was something wrong at Graham & Parks, despite the public findings.
“They should release the report,” Bingham said.
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So Graham and Parks parents and staff are being told to turn the page and try to make the best out of what is obviously a difficult situation created by this principal’s hiring and subsequent behavior. I guess we have no choice–the powers that be have decreed that we’re the problem, not this principal with her wonderful track record. But before I move on, I have to note one of the few statements from the investigative report that the district has chosen to reveal: A reference was not checked, which was against district policy, but there is “no evidence this would have altered the hiring outcome.” Is this credible? If you checked the reference of someone you intended to hire and found out that they had been fired at a previous workplace for creating a toxic work environment, and that the previous employer had to pay a large settlement to settle a lawsuit stemming from her bad behavior, would you definitely go ahead and hire her?
Maybe the G&P caregivers coalition, which is a vocal minority, can move on and we can focus on real problems at the school like equity among the students and making sure the new literacy curriculum works well.