Arlington school chief cites 'improprieties' in resigning
Officials decline to reveal details
When Arlington School Committee members first heard earlier this week that Superintendent Nate Levenson planned to resign after signing a three-year contract renewal, "it came as a surprise," as one member put it.
But then during a closed-door executive session Thursday, Levenson revealed to the committee "certain improprieties that occurred in 2007," committee members said in written statement yesterday.
Three committee members contacted by the Globe declined to elaborate on the meeting yesterday, and others did not return phone calls.
In the one-page statement, the committee said the improprieties were severe enough to convince them Levenson's stay was "untenable."
His stint with the district has been marred for the past year by a contentious, legal back-and-forth between him and a principal and teacher he fired.
Arbitration over the dismissals is ongoing.
Levenson's improprieties came to light in the course of the arbitration, the seven-member committee said in its statement.
"It would be ill-advised for the School Committee to comment publicly on the nature of these improprieties while the litigation is ongoing," the statement said.
In his letter of resignation, Levenson referred to the long-running struggle and the "intense political climate of the last year."
"These have been very hard years for me personally," he wrote.
He offered no additional explanation for his resignation and gave no mention of possible improprieties.
When Levenson arrived at the Arlington School District in 2005, he was an untraditional candidate for the district's top spot as superintendent, with a master's degree in business administration from Harvard and more experience as a businessman than an educator.
Levenson has made headlines ever since for a variety of reasons: his contract, which tied his pay, in part, to student performance; his sometimes-unpopular decisions when reining in expenditures; and a plan to attract more Japanese exchange students to Arlington.
The current arbitration stems from the controversial firing of popular middle school principal Stavroula Bouris.
Levenson had drawn ire in the district last year when he did not renew Bouris's contract, saying at the time that she was "no longer a good fit for this district." More than 250 parents and teachers came out to support her. Ultimately, she was allowed to stay.
But Bouris and Levenson butted heads again months later when Levenson announced an investigation had been launched after he received a package of e-mails that indicated the principal was having an "inappropriate relationship" with a technology teacher. He later dismissed her and the teacher, Chuck Coughlin, after the investigation had concluded.
In his letter of resignation, Levenson said: "I am confident that the decisions I made were the right ones. . . . But even as I know this to be true, recent developments in the appeal process are showing signs of fueling an already heated divide in the community."
Laura Chapman, a parent of three in the Arlington School District, is curious to find out exactly what pushed Levenson to resign. "Why the man up and resigned is of interest to me," she said. "He must have resigned for a reason.
"If there's a problem there, I think the town of Arlington is better off just moving on."
Chapman was never one of Levenson's biggest fans. The first time she met him was two years ago at a meeting where he told parents he was reducing teaching staff.
"He just quotes all kinds of statistics about how this was going to be perfectly fine to this group of parents who were totally caught off guard," she said. Chapman was also a strong supporter of the fired principal.
Still, Levenson's supporters point to a number of successes during his time in Arlington.
"A lot of very good things were done during his time as superintendent," said committee member Jeff Thielman. He mentioned a "beefed-up" reading program, a reorganized administration that saved the district money, and increased resources for special education.
"It saddens me on a personal level, but I think the role of the School Committee is to keep the district moving forward," he said. "There are lessons to be learned from this whole experience. It's going to take some time to reflect and really determine what those lessons are as we go about selecting our next superintendent."
While the committee searches, Kathleen Bodie, the assistant superintendent under Levenson, will assume his duties.
Correction: Because of a reporting error, a story in Saturday's City & Region section about the resignation of Arlington Superintendent Nate Levenson mischaracterized the way in which the Arlington School Committee learned of alleged improprieties that led to the resignation. A lawyer had informed the committee of these alleged improprieties during a closed-door session earlier in the week. 