Tonight at its March 26 business
meeting, the Methacton School Board announced that they had held several executive
sessions in February and March to review material gathered by the special
investigative counsel hired November 1 2012 to look into allegations of an inappropriate
relationship between superintendent Timothy Quinn and Director of Curriculum,
Diane Barrie. Those allegations first came to light via a Fox 29 news report
and which I’ve written about previously.
The special investigative
team spent more than 4 months gathering evidence. My understanding is that
hearings for each to review the findings were to have been conducted in late February or this
month, but that both elected to resign before those hearings could be held. Had
they gone forward as scheduled, a report of the results would have been subject to public
disclosure, which they presumably wanted to avoid.
In light of the findings of
that investigation and the tendered resignations, the Board voted 8 to 0 (board
member Cathy Barone was absent) to accept them.
Not all the legal bills are
in, but the cost of this investigation is estimated to be over $20,000 at this
point.
Quinn’s tenure at Methacton
since he arrived in 2008 was tumultuous. Many I’ve talked
to while campaigning for office believed Quinn received the support of former
school board president Jim Van Horn and the board at that time primarily because
he supported the construction of the controversial 5/6 school, Skyview, circa
2007-2008 (completed in 2010) and which I understand sits half-empty today
(while we don’t start paying down principal on the construction costs til 2018). Since
then, Quinn was in the middle of the continuing debates over the need for, and
cost of, new turf fields and lights for the football field. The prom drinking
scandal two years ago, an unexpected change to the dress code and arrest of a
teacher for having an inappropriate relationship with a student all occurred
during his tenure.
Quinn’s original four year
contract would have expired in 2012, but was renewed early in July 2010 for
another five years, scheduled to end in August 2015. The Board indicated it
would pay out both Quinn and Barrie’s contracts only through the end of this
year. As far as I am aware, Barrie has not been offered the position she applied for at the Intermediate Unit; I don't know if that has been filled or if it remains open.
No one was appointed acting superintendent. With a primary election coming in less than 8 weeks, perhaps the current board wants to await its outcome before deciding when to move forward with naming an acting superintendent or a replacement.
While Quinn undeniably had
his strengths and accomplishments during his time at Methacton, it is
unfortunate that his unceremonious departure and the reason behind it is likely
to be what he is most remembered for.
The Fox 29 update on this topic appears here:
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