Milton names acting school superintendent, investigation into Jette's arrest continues
MILTON – With School Superintendent James Jette on paid administrative leave through at least Sept. 1, the school committee has named Janet Sheehan as acting school superintendent.
The unanimous vote to hire Sheehan, a former assistant school superintendent, took place at a 7 a.m. meeting Friday. School Committee Chair Ada Rosmarin announced that the committee extended Jette's administrative leave during a closed-door meeting on Tuesday.
Jette has been on administrative leave since July 14 following his arrest in May on a domestic violence charge.
School committee members said they appointed an acting superintendent because of the need to prepare for the Aug. 29 opening of school.
Rosmarin said Sheehan has accepted the appointment. She said the alternative would be to conduct a search from among recently retired school superintendents for the job, a process that could take weeks.
"She has worked with our entire central office staff and all of our principals," Rosmarin said.
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School committee member Elizabeth White said Sheehan is "someone who can step in and make a difference right away."
School committee member Elizabeth Carroll said Sheehan would keep the school system steady while the legal process with Jette plays out.
Since she retired in 2019, this is the second time Sheehan has returned to the school system. She served as interim assistant school superintendent for curriculum and human resources for most of the 2021-22 school year, a job she had held for six years before retiring. She stepped down on July 1 when Garth McKinney joined the school system.
Sheehan has worked as a teacher and as assistant principal and principal of Collicot Elementary School. For several years, she was principal of the Joseph Osgood School in Cohasset. She also worked as a teacher in Norwell and Randolph.
Her salary was not announced at the meeting.
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Jette, a 25-year veteran of the school system and its superintendent for the last two, was arrested May 27 at his Stoughton home and charged with a single count of assault and battery on a family or household member. Court papers said Jette shoved his partner against a wall and put his hand on her neck during a dispute over a broken plant pot.
A not guilty plea was entered on Jette's behalf and he is free on his promise to return to court for further proceedings.
Rosmarin said it would be "inappropriate" for the school committee to comment on the charge against Jette.
"We could not be taking the situation more seriously," she said.
In a related matter, the select board on Wednesday appointed Assistant School Superintendent for Business Affairs Amy Dexter to work in the town's finance department to help the town close the books on its 2021-22 budget year.
Dexter, who was town accountant before taking the school job, will fill the vacancy created three months ago when Finance Director Karen Preval left to take the city auditor job in Brockton. Dexter will do the municipal work outside of her work hours in the schools.
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Reach Fred Hanson at fhanson@patriotledger.com.
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Retired administrator named acting Milton school superintendent
