Scuffle between school officials probed

LAWRENCE -- A clerk magistrate could rule as soon as today whether School Superintendent Wilfredo T. Laboy and School Committee member Amy C. McGovern will face criminal charges as a result of a bizarre scuffle in Laboy's office last month.

The dispute is the latest in a series of controversies that have embroiled Laboy in his five years in the superintendent's job. Also during his tenure, concerns have been raised about his failure to pass an English proficiency exam and about the use of school funds to outfit his vehicle.

In the latest incident, McGovern contends that Laboy yelled at her and shoved her against a closet door in the School Department's central office suite on June 16, injuring her left arm, after she questioned why Laboy had failed to limit access to School Committee records.

Laboy maintains that he only attempted to block McGovern from entering his outer office, and that she grabbed his left hand and squeezed it against a door.

McGovern, 30, is 4 feet 11 inches tall and weighs 95 pounds. Laboy was reluctant to state his height and weight during the the hearing in Lawrence District Court, but according to McGovern's lawyer, John Valerio, Laboy's attorney said in court that his client weighs 240 pounds. Colleagues estimate that Laboy is 5 feet 9 inches tall.

The incident began when McGovern arrived to check and authorize School Department payments that Laboy had left for her in the School Committee office.

According to witness reports given to police, McGovern became visibly upset when she discovered that Laboy had allowed other School Department employees to use the School Committee office, where the records are stored. A noisy argument ensued with both Laboy and McGovern summoning police. The four officers who arrived at the scene found McGovern crying and cowering under a desk.

No witnesses actually saw Laboy hit McGovern, according to the separate police reports.

''Something certainly happened between them but this is a disgrace for the School Deartment and a disgrace for the city of Lawrence," said School Committee member James Vittorioso after a two-day probable cause hearing into the incident ended Wednesday. ''I wasn't there, so I can't say who was right and who was wrong, but it isn't doing the children of Lawrence any good seeing two top administrators in a physical fight."

McGovern, who appeared at the hearing conducted by Assistant Clerk Magistrate John L. Sullivan with her left arm in a brace, said she did not want to comment on the specifics of the case. She said she had found the entire incident emotionally draining. ''I do take my responsibility as an elected official seriously, including how we spend every penny of our budget," McGovern said.

Laboy referred all calls to his lawyer, Scott Gleason of Haverhill. Gleason did not return phone calls, his secretary said, because he was called out of his office on an emergency.

School Committee member Nancy J. Kennedy, said the two school officials have been verbally sparring since McGovern discovered in January that Laboy had spent $490 of School Department funds to outfit his city-supplied SUV with running boards to enable his wife to climb more easily into the vehicle.

Public pressure prompted Laboy to reimburse the system. A month later, according to Kennedy, McGovern discovered that Laboy had spent another $295 on an automatic starter for the car.

Laboy took over the Lawrence schools in 2000 after two previous superintendents were fired over fiscal irregularities. He raised eyebrows when he failed an English proficiency exam, which he later passed.

Former School Committee member Suzanne McHugh Piscitello, who enthusiastically supported Laboy when he arrived, said the superintendent needs to be very respectful of any questions from the School Committee about money and how it is spent.

''Amy is a very good watchdog and she is right [that Laboy] should have kept the School Committee room locked and private," Piscitello said.

Vittorioso has called on Mayor Michael Sullivan, who chairs the School Committee, to step in and make peace between the two school officials.

''This is paralyzing the committee," Vittorioso said. ''We've got to get to the bottom of the bad feelings if we are to go forward."

Caroline Louise Cole can be reached at cole@globe.com.