A School Committee in Easthampton, Massachusetts is facing further setbacks in its search for a new superintendent.
Vito Perrone was their first choice for the role but ultimately lost his job offer after he used the term ‘ladies’ in an email while negotiating his pay.
Now the committee’s second choice, Erica Faginski-Stark, has also withdrawn her application after students reported past Facebook posts by her that contained conservative and transphobic rhetoric.
Students emailed the Mayor of Easthampton, Nicole LaChapelle expressing their ‘extreme concerns’ about the committee’s second choice candidate for the role.
‘Under the belief that this is her Facebook account, she has posted conservative transphobic rhetoric a multitude of times,’ students wrote to Mayor Nicole LaChapelle.
First choice Vito Perrone says a job offer to serve as the Easthampton School District was withdrawn after he sent an email to school board committee members addressing them as ‘ladies’
Now the committee’s second choice, Erica Faginski-Stark, has also withdrawn her application after students reported past Facebook posts that contained conservative and transphobic rhetoric
Erica Faginski-Stark Easthampton Public Schools Superintendent interview was posted online
‘With the recent anti-trans picketing, many youth in the school are concerned and angry,’ they added in the email as seen by the Boston Herald.
In a post from January 2021 she wrote: “For EVERY female athlete out there, it’s time to speak up. As a former Div. 1 scholarship athlete and academic & athletic ALL American, our young women just got stripped of their equal rights and equal opportunity.”
Subsequent posts from March 2021 included a link to a petition to ‘Defend Title IX’ and stated that ‘only girls should play girls’ sports!’
Faginski-Stark, the director of Curriculum and Instruction at Ludlow Public Schools, commented on the need for women to use their voice and advocate for equality in women’s sports.
Students emailed the Mayor of Easthampton, Nicole LaChapelle expressing their ‘extreme concerns’ about the committee’s second choice candidate for the role.
Students emailed the Easthampton mayor expressing their ‘extreme concerns’ about the committee’s second choice following the discovery of transphobic comments
Faginski-Stark, the director of Curriculum and Instruction at Ludlow Public Schools, commented on the need for women to use their voice and advocate for equality in women’s sports
‘Back in January we heard a lot about breaking the glass ceiling for women. So I’m surprised by the silence out there relative to Title IX and the lack of advocacy by women on behalf of equality for women and women’s sports,’ Faginski-Stark wrote.
‘Ladies, the glass ceiling is more real now than it’s been in generations,’ she added. ‘Our choice to use our voice or to remain silent will determine not only the future of women’s athletics but equality for women everywhere. It’s time to speak up.’
The Facebook page is no longer available to be viewed publicly and appears to have been removed but DailyMail.com tracked down the offending posts.
The news of Perrone losing his job offer after using the term ‘ladies’ in an email went viral earlier this month, with many residents criticizing the School Committee’s decision and urging the board to give him another chance.
But now this latest chapter in the search for a new superintendent has caused further chaos in the district.
The School Committee are to discuss the next steps in their search for a new superintendent at the next meeting on Tuesday.
Perrone began his teaching career in Carson City in Nevada after playing professional football in Italy for four years
Last month, Perrone was offered the position by the Easthampton School District but after an email exchange in which he attempted to negotiate slightly higher pay and more sick days, he says the offer was withdrawn after he addressed two female committee members as ‘ladies’ in an email.
Perrone had been offered a three-year contract with an annual salary of $151,000, around $14,000 less than his existing job as an interim superintendent at another school district.
In those emails, Perrone asked for a cost of living adjustment of 3 percent for fiscal years 2025 and 2026, as well as additional sick and vacation days.
Committee Chair, Cynthia Kwiecinski told Perrone his offer would be withdrawn
Perrone told the Daily Hampshire Gazette that he was taking a pay cut regardless. He had been the principal of Easthampton Highschool eight years prior.
‘This job was not about the money for me. 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,’ he said in an interview with the Gazette on Friday.
In an email, viewed by the Gazette, he addresses Chairperson Cynthia Kwiecinski and Suzanne Colby, executive assistant to the committee as ‘ladies’.
According to Perrone, Kwiecinski said that using ‘ladies’ was a microaggression and ‘the fact that he didn’t know that as an educator was a problem.’
‘I was shocked,’ he said. ‘I grew up in a time when ‘ladies’ and ‘gentlemen’ was a sign of respect. I didn’t intend to insult anyone.’
‘I don’t want people to think I was not willing to negotiate in good faith. I have chosen not to just leave it as ‘negotiations stalled.’ I would rather share my truth, my sadness and disappointment and try to find a way forward positively,’ he told the Gazette.
Perrone had been the principal of Easthampton High School eight years prior and viewed his new job as coming ‘home’
Perrone was born and raised in Manchester, Connecticut, and has worked with prisoners in Nevada and been a principal at multiple high schools, according to the Terrier Times.
He also played four years of Division I football at UMass Amherst even led to tryouts with several professional teams.
He did not make it into the NFL but he was able to play professionally in Italy. For four seasons he played in the Italian Federation of American Football.
After returning to the US he began teaching English and coached football in Carson City, Nevada, before moving to the prison system, the Times reported.
‘Honestly, I am truly, truly disappointed that I won’t be in Easthampton in that building,’ he told the Gazette. ‘I’m just sad.’
