One Massachusetts school district superintendent finalist has recently spoken out to claim that a pair of committee members took back an offer of employment given to him in the wake of his having the nerve to address a pair of female officials as “ladies” in an email.
As explained by a local media report, Vito Perrone was issued an offer of employment in the role of head of Easthampton Public Schools back on the 24th of March. That was until the School Committee elected to revoke the offer on the grounds of committing a so-called “microaggression” via an email sent to some of the members.
Perrone claimed that he sent an email making a total of three distinct requests to Chairperson Cynthia Kwiecinski and executive assistant to the committee Suzanne Colby regarding the offer he was given. At the head of the email, Perrone stated that he wrote the word “ladies,” which was allegedly marked by Kwiecinski as a microaggression, stating “the fact that he didn’t know that as an educator was a problem.”
“I was shocked,” claimed Peronne to The Daily Hampshire Gazette. “I grew up in a time when ‘ladies’ and ‘gentlemen’ was a sign of respect. I didn’t intend to insult anyone.”
Peronne went on to explain to Western Mass News that both Kwiecinski and Colby somehow felt “insulted by the address.”
“And I said, well, I grew up in a time — the sixties, seventies — when ladies and gentlemen was a term of respect,” explained Perrone. “That’s how I intended it, and I didn’t mean to insult you and was basically told my apology didn’t mean anything, and they were going to rescind the offer.”
Perrone put in a request to negotiate a high salary and additional sick days after stacking up his offer against his current salary as the interim superintendent for the West Springfield school district, which had been roughly $14,000 more than what he had been offered by the East Hampton Public Schools.
“This job was not about the money for me,” he stated to the Gazette. “I honestly felt like I was coming home to Easthampton. I coached football here. I was principal here when we built the school. I have such wonderful memories … I was excited to come back.”
Kwiecinski expressed to the Gazette that she could not speak about any sort of administrative matters when reached out to for comment.
As a School Committee member, Marin Goldstein explained to the outlet that all executive session meetings are confidential.
