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July 16, 2010

Town in a fix over school renovation

By Alan Burke Staff writer

MARBLEHEAD — Schools Superintendent Paul Dulac has informed the School Committee he's contacted a lawyer to help deal with irregularities in the renovation of the Village School. A decision to contract with Diamond Relocation Inc. to store school furniture has already resulted in a highly critical report from the state's Inspector General Gregory Sullivan and the firing of former School Business Manager Jonathan Goldfield.

Mainly, the state complains the school agreed to pay Diamond less than $25,000 for a job they should have known would cost much more. A higher price tag, meanwhile, requires the job be put up for bid and it was not.

"There is a troubling suggestion that the school awarded the contract to Diamond knowing in advance that Diamond's storage space estimate of 200 square feet was woefully inadequate," Sullivan said.

How inadequate was the price estimate? The actual bill is $38,911.

"More troubling still," Sullivan wrote, "is evidence, provided by Diamond, that suggests that Diamond and school personnel discussed several questionable stratagems to make payments to Diamond in violation of (Massachusetts General Laws)."

Sullivan asserts that the town shouldn't pay the excess bill. But Diamond is holding a hostage — the furniture. Where are the kids going to sit?

"This office also recommends that you discuss with legal counsel the school's rights with respect to Diamond's nonperformance and refusal to return the furniture," Sullivan says.

For his part, Dulac tells the board, "I contacted the Massachusetts Association of Superintendents and its legal counsel Michael Long on July 6, 2010, my first day back from medical leaves ... at no cost to the district." (Dulac has had bigger problems recently, notably a quadruple bypass.)

Responding to public criticisms of his role in this (Goldfield took the blame initially) Dulac added that he is creating a chronology of events for the board and will "vet" the inspector general's suggestions. He urges "it is imperative we accelerate our efforts to address and resolve all issues related to the 'suggestions' made by the IG, especially those related to the superintendent's involvement."

The superintendent adds, "I am sorry that I need to defend my actions on this matter and even sorrier that these issues evolved while I was recovering from surgery and not able to respond."

Dulac's medical problems began in May, while the state report was issued in April.

From marble to leather

Former Bell School Principal Steve Medeiros left town under less than ideal circumstances. Dulac gave him a public tongue-lashing and attempted to fire the veteran educator after a lackluster presentation on his school's curriculum planning. But Medeiros had a contract, forcing Dulac to back down and assign him, instead, to an administrative job that lasted until the end of the recent school year.

Now, Medeiros is hoping to move to Peabody, applying for two principal jobs in the Tanner City. In the age of Google, some officials have signaled they know the whole story. Nevertheless, he's a finalist at both the West and Center elementary schools.

Fur enough to travel

Marblehead author Eric Jay Dolin ("Leviathan") is going everywhere to promote his latest book, "Fur, Fortune and Empire." That includes Wyoming and the Museum of the Mountain Man in Pinedale. "They flew me out there," he says. "I couldn't turn it down."

In the Cowboy State for four days, he was astonished at the booming economy. Oil fuels a lot of it, he explains. In fact, it fueled part of his trip because the Sublette County Historical Society is financed with a percentage of the region's oil wealth.

Oh, Marblehead could only dream of such a thing.

Pinedale is the site of the Green River Rendezvous, where mountain men gathered to trade furs in the early 19th century. The occasion is remembered each year.

"A lot of people out west take the mountain man history very seriously," Dolin says. His book not only charts their history but the fur traders of early Massachusetts as well. He will do some 30 talks in the next 30 days.

How dry I'll be

The Board of Health has closed five beaches, explaining that, like so many of us, they fail to meet minimum standards. These include Gas House Beach, Grace Oliver Beach, Stramski Beach, the Village Street beach and the Sunset Road pier.

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Town in a fix over school renovation
by By Alan Burke , Staff writer , Fri Jul 16, 2010, 12:19 AM EDT
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