Thursday, 4:30 PM
Maynard superintendent keeps his job
By Melissa Beecher, Globe correspondent
MAYNARD -- The Maynard School Committee voted 3-2 this evening to retain Superintendent Mark Masterson, who was under fire for how he handled child molestation allegations 16 months before child rape charges were filed against former teacher Joseph Magno.
Masterson was placed on administrative leave because, he said, he failed to tell School Committee members promptly and accurately about a 2004 telephone conversation in which a former high school student said he knew about a teacher abusing a student.
The student who made the call claimed that he mentioned Magno, but Masterson said that Magno was never named. It was not until last year, when Magno was charged in a different sexual abuse case, that the superintendent informed school officials about the phone call.
Magno, 66, was scheduled to go on trial last month on 18 counts of child rape and indecent assault and battery, but he died of a heart attack on the eve of the trial.
