Everett is not an easy city to win over by acclimation – but the new Superintendent of Schools Priya Tahiliani is doing just that, according to a variety of school department officials and employees interviewed for this piece.
“If you have a kid in the Everett public schools at this time it is a good thing, she’s in charge,” said a longtime school official. “She is not using plays from the old time playbook. She is making decisions. She is owning them. Most important to note, she isn’t complaining,” said the source.
Tahiliani announced last week she is cutting the budget by 5% just to be safe to start, and that it might, in a worst case scenario, have to be cut another 5% – 10%.
In years past during the past two decades, the school department almost annually would announce deep cuts being made- as if crying fire in a crowded theater, only to rescind the cuts and rehire back nearly everyone that was set to be let go before the new school year began.
No such tactic is being used by Tahiliani, who understands better than most the exigencies of the new normal brought on by the profound effects of the Coronavirus.
“She is trying to do layoffs strategically. It isn’t about who you are with her. It is about what you are doing,” said a source.
“She is sane and fair in negotiations. She is trying to make arrangements for the coming school year without knowing for certain what bumps there will be along the road,” said a member of the School Committee. “She is very smart. She understands how things work. She has a ton of integrity,” added the School Committee member.