With the retirement of Supt. Fred Foresteire, the investigation into the sexual harassment allegations against him will not also retire, according to City and School officials.
The School Committee had retained legal counsel and designated $50,000 to fund an independent investigation into the claims of sexual harassment by the former superintendent.
There were questions this week after the retirement announcement if that investigation would continue.
School Committeeman Frank Parker said in a statement that they have been advised to continue their investigation into the matter.
“Counsel has advised that since the School Committee approved retention of independent investigation, it must proceed,” he said on Friday.
On Thursday, the School Committee posted an agenda for a special meeting on Dec. 27 that would tackle at least three personnel matters in private, executive sessions. While the agenda said Dec. 27, it also said Wednesday, leaving the real date into question. However, it does appear that the intention is to have the meeting on Dec. 26.
All three matters appeared to be directly related to the Foresteire matter.
The first matter looked to be related to contract negotiations for non-union personnel, and that could be about negotiating a new contact with Interim Superintendent Janice Gauthier. Foresteire and his representatives were not invited to that session.
The second matter for executive session was to be about litigation, likely about upcoming cases involving the Everett Public Schools in the Foresteire matter.
The final executive session did have Foresteire and his representative invited, and was about discussing the charges and complaints brought against the former superintendent of schools.
That would appear to be the beginnings of the independent investigation. Another note is that the School Committee has brought on attorney Robert Galvin of Plymouth to advise them, and long-time attorney Spencer Tobin is no longer listed on the roster of those invited to the sessions.
In addition to the School Committee independent investigation, there is also an MCAD investigation that has begun and is on a separate track from the School Committee investigation.
There are reports that another investigation is also in the works at another level of government.