GREENFIELD — The School Committee voted in favor, with abstentions from Mayor Ginny Desorgher and member Melissa McKenzie Webb, of hiring a mediator to assist with inner-committee conflict resolution.
School Committee Chair Stacey Sexton, who motioned to authorize the hiring of a mediator at Thursday’s meeting, explained that the idea of bringing in a mediation service “to increase productive collaboration and collegiality among members” was suggested both by themself and by other committee members.
“This is a request that is both coming from me and other members of the committee. I don’t want to get too much into it, because mediation is a confidential process,” Sexton said at the meeting. “We have to talk a little bit at least about the reason, and I don’t want to violate the confidentiality of both mediation as a tool and executive session. … Don’t ask, I won’t tell you, but this is something that has been brought up. I would encourage you strongly to participate in a process like this.”
When committee member Melodie Goodwin asked Sexton about the costs associated with hiring a mediation service, they responded with the general rates and noted that the committee can cap how many hours a mediator will be used. The mediator will be paid at a rate of $150 per hour for in-session mediation and $100 per hour for out-of-session work.
Desorgher asked Sexton when in the day committee members would use the mediation service. In response, Sexton explained that while the particular timing of the mediation conferences would be up to the committee to decide, a mediator would be used, as needed, on a long-term basis.
“The path of least resistance is adding on an executive session to whatever meeting we might have. That being said, we’re going to be tired. It’s going to be hanging over our heads during our whole public meeting. It doesn’t necessarily create the best container for that kind of conversation,” Sexton said. “This is not a one-shot [deal]. The way I understand it, the service would talk to each person who wanted to participate individually, and then we would have sessions. … This is going to be a monthslong endeavor.”
Sexton went on to note that they have participated in mediation processes in other groups and have found them to be productive as they can help people “realign, do a little bit of reset and move forward.”
In a phone interview Friday, Sexton said that the decision to hire a mediator is not indicative of a severe conflict, but rather, a process that they believe should be used more often among all the city’s boards and committees.
“Frankly, I think we should all use mediators more often,” Sexton said. “My thought is that these are simply people who are trained to listen, help and resolve conflict.”
Goodwin, in a phone interview Friday, also spoke to her support of the position, noting that while the added cost of a mediator during an expectedly tight budget season is concerning, she believes use of this service can help the School Committee work more efficiently and productively.
“It seems like getting anything done takes forever, so there’s got to be a way to make that better, and I think this is an attempt to make us more effective and more efficient,” she said. “This is a way to — instead of going backwards — move us forward. It’s going to be a bad budget year. We know that, and we’re going to be making really tough decisions that impact kids and families, so we need to pull together. So if this will help us pull together as a group, I’m all for it.”
School Committee member Elizabeth DeNeeve echoed the chair’s support for mediation, pointing out that with the School Department’s future Superintendent Carol Kruser slated to begin on July 1, she thinks it would be best for committee members to work out their differences.
“Participating in this would be a great step of maturity, considering that we have a new superintendent ready to come on board,” DeNeeve said. “I think we should all [put] our very best foot forward if we want to have somebody here permanently. Aligning our behaviors is the right step forward.”