Community Corner

Poll: Should Schools Superintendent Johnson Resign or Be Removed?

Superintendent Johnson admitted she was wrong for not disciplining a school headmaster who is on probation after allegedly assaulting his wife.

A City Councilor is calling for Boston Public Schools Superintendent Carol Johnson to be removed after she did not discipline a school headmaster after he was arrested for assaulting his wife.

Meanwhile, more than 200 Johnson supporters rallied at Jamaica Plain's  on Saturday, according to the Globe.

Rodney Peterson was the headmaster at the John D. O’Bryant School of Mathematics & Science in Roxbury, was placed on administrative leave after he was charged with choking his wife last June, and has since left the Boston Public Schools system.

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Johnson has apologized for her handling of the situation, telling Deborah Becker on WBUR's Morning Edition, “I made a mistake. I wish I had done things differently. In retrospect, I wish I had placed [Peterson] on leave immediately until it is resolved and then determined his continued employment."

Boston School Committee Member Mary Tamer, of West Roxbury, has called for a commmitte meeting to discuss how to move forward.

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Johnson said the school department will announce a new policy to instruct all administrators, including her, and what to do with similar cases moving forward.

But Boston City Councilor At-Large John Connolly has called for Johnson's ouster. Connolly told WBUR

“I don’t think it’s OK to simply say, ‘I’m sorry and I’ve put a policy in place so this won’t happen again.’ This is the sort of thing that doesn’t require a policy. You know what the right thing to do here is, and you just, either you do it or you don’t. It wasn’t done here. Do we really need to be told by words on a piece of paper that it’s not OK to put a batterer back in charge of a school where he’s going to be responsible for overseeing hundreds of children every day?”

So what do you think? Should Boston Public Schools Superintendent Carol Johnson be removed from her position? Should she resign? Should she stay in charge of the school district? Please take the poll and leave your comments below.


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