Rodrigues doesn't regret quitting school board after infighting: 'Not how we make change'

FALL RIVER — The abrupt resignation of School Committee member Sara Rodrigues on Wednesday night after a meeting descended into infighting left a vacancy on the board that's already been filled.

The City Clerk’s office confirmed Thursday afternoon that Collin Dias was sworn in as a School Committee member on Thursday morning.

Dias ran for School Committee in 2023, missing the cut by coming in seventh place. Per the city bylaws, vacancies on the City Council and School Committee are filled by the next-highest vote-getter in the most recent election; that person fills the remainder of the elected term.

School Committee members serve for two years. The next election is in fall 2025.

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Rodrigues: Superintendent choice is not 'ready yet'

In an interview Thursday, Rodrigues said she feels “secure in my decision.”

Rodrigues’ resignation capped a combative School Committee meeting where the board interviewed four candidates for superintendent and appointed Assistant Superintendent Tracy Curley as the next schools chief.

The last leg of the marathon four-and-a-half-hour meeting was marked by board members shouting and trading accusations of political favoritism.

Rodrigues and School Committee member Kevin Aguiar favored hiring Ana Riley, Bristol-Warren Regional School District superintendent, citing her experience running multiple school districts, her time working for the Rhode Island Department of Education, and vision for the city’s school system.

While she thought Curley did a fine job in her interview, “I thought Ana answered the questions the most directly, clearly and effectively,” Rodrigues said.

However, she said, when Aguiar moved that the board appoint Riley, “I looked down the table and it was clear that people were not happy with that.”  

Rodrigues said she was troubled by the majority of the board’s favoring Curley, suggesting she was an inadequate candidate being pushed forward as a “reward” for her length service to the district rather than her own merit and experience.

“This wasn’t about a 'no' to Tracy,” Rodrigues said. “I just don’t think Tracy is ready yet. I’m not saying she’s bad at her job or any of those things. I did not and will not say those things. What I will say is that she doesn’t have experience as a superintendent.”

She noted that outgoing Superintendent Maria Pontes also had no experience running a school district before she took the position in 2022 — but added that at the time, the district was reeling from the controversial exit of superintendent Matt Malone, who had harassed district staff members, including calling a disabled employee an ableist slur and using inappropriate language toward female employees. Pontes, a longtime Fall River educator, stepping in gave the district stability it needed at the time, Rodrigues said.

“I stand by the choice that Maria was the right decision. But now with Maria retiring, I think we need to have some direction and a clear vision and I don’t think that Tracy has that yet," Rodrigues said. “That doesn’t mean she won’t — but I just don’t think she has it yet.”

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Rodrigues exits as school board squabbles

The board's discussion about Riley versus Curley quickly devolved from decorum to disorder, with members shouting at one another and trading accusations about political favors. Aguiar repeatedly called Curley's hiring a "travesty" while Shelli Pereira fired back angrily accusing Rodrigues and Aguiar of deciding to support Riley even before the interviews began.

Rodrigues said she decided to support Riley on her merit. She described herself as an “outside-insider,” a lifelong Fall River resident who is raising children here, but is politically unconnected.

“I don’t have relatives in the system. I don’t have close friends that are influential in the system. I’ve never worked within the city or anything like that," she said.

The lack of professionalism spurred her to leave, she said.

“It just felt like if I continued to sit there, that I was condoning that," she said. "I don’t want to be a part of that. That’s not how we make change.” 

Preferring to make change 'from the outside'

Rodrigues, a longtime clinical social worker and executive director of the Balanced Learning Center in Fall River, was first elected to the board in 2021 and re-elected in 2023. In the latter election, she was the second-highest vote-getter.

Despite this, she said she struggled to see changes to the Fall River school system, particularly in her wheelhouse of special education and social-emotional learning. She said at times during meetings she even struggled to be listened to, literally.

“My thoughts and opinions, honestly, don’t go anywhere," she said. “If we’re talking about effecting change, I just feel like I could do that better from the outside at this point.”

During the superintendent search process, she said, she had no say in the job posting, offered to be a part of the search committee and “never got a response,” and often only heard about the search process from members of the community.

She said the search committee conducted initial interviews with candidates, but she has no idea what candidates’ responses were.

“I had asked for a summary of what the answers were. ... I asked three times for those and I never received them," she said.

In an interview Wednesday night, Aguiar said he also requested that information and never received it.

The School Committee’s administrative assistant has not yet responded to a Herald News request for comment.

Rodrigues said she formalized her resignation in a message to Mayor Paul Coogan, the School Committee chairman, and spoke with the city clerk. She said, as of Thursday afternoon, no one on the school board had contacted her.

New school board member Dias: 'Decorum needs to be addressed'

Dias said he called the School Committee meeting “a sad night for Fall River.”

“I believe Sara Rodrigues has been one of the best advocates for students this city has seen. The reasons behind this needs to be addressed," he said in a statement to The Herald News. “We need to restore credibility to the public. Decorum needs to be addressed on the School Committee.”

As a new member, Dias will join the School Committee for the first time at its next meeting, June 10.

“My mission as one member of the committee is to be easily accessible to everyone, and take votes that are in the best interests of both the students and the taxpayers of this community,” he stated. “Everyone deserves to be heard, and have their opinions respected. Let’s get to work.”

Dan Medeiros can be reached at dmedeiros@heraldnews.com. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Herald News today.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Fall River school board swears in new member; ex-member speaks out