School superintendent says job offer was rescinded after he addressed committee members as ‘ladies’

A former high school principal says a job offer to serve as school district superintendent was rescinded after he addressed two committee members as ‘ladies’ in an email.

The Easthampton school district in Massachusetts offered Vito Perrone the position last month, but after an email exchange in which he tried to negotiate a slightly higher salary and more sick days, it says the offer was withdrawn.

Perrone was offered a three-year contract with an annual salary of $151,000, about $14,000 less than his current job as interim superintendent in another school district.

In those emails, Perrone requested a 3 percent cost-of-living adjustment for tax years 2025 and 2026, as well as additional sick and vacation days. He said that he would have taken a pay cut anyway, but that he wanted the job.

Cynthia Kwiecinski was the chair of the committee and told Perrone that his offer would be withdrawn on Thursday.

Perrone told the Hampshire Daily Bulletin that he was taking a pay cut regardless. He had been the principal of Easthampton Highschool eight years earlier.

‘This job was not about money for me. I honestly felt like I was coming home to Easthampton. I coached soccer here. I was the principal here when we built the school. I have such wonderful memories… I was excited to be back,’ he said in an interview with the Gazette on Friday.

In one email, seen by The Gazette, he addresses chair Cynthia Kwiecinski and Suzanne Colby, the committee’s executive assistant as ‘ladies’.

According to Perrone, Kwiecinski said using ‘checkers’ was a microaggression and ‘the fact that he didn’t know that as an educator was a problem.’

“I was surprised,” he said. ‘I grew up in a time when ‘ladies’ and ‘gentlemen’ were a sign of respect. I didn’t mean to insult anyone.

He said he was attending a high school fundraising dinner Thursday night when he planned to go into a conference room to negotiate with the committee. Instead, she was asked to leave the room for 45 minutes before being told that her offer would be rescinded after a vote.

“I don’t want people to think that I wasn’t willing to negotiate in good faith. I have chosen not to simply leave it as ‘dealing negotiations’. I would rather share my truth, my sadness and disappointment and try to find a positive path,” he told the Gazette.

Perrone had been the principal of Easthampton High School eight years earlier, and considered his new job as coming “home”.

Perrone began his teaching career in Carson City in Nevada after playing professional soccer in Italy for four years.

The School Committee voted 4-3 to hire Perrone the night of March 23. He says they tried to call him that night, but since he was asleep and didn’t answer his calls, they sent a police officer to his house to check. his well-being.

He says that he and his wife were woken up around 00:15. “The police officer asked me if I was okay because the School Committee was trying to locate me,” he said. “My interview ended at 8 o’clock and I ended up falling asleep around 10:15… I thought my phone was on, but I guess not.”

Perrone was born and raised in Manchester, Connecticut, and has worked with inmates in Nevada and has been principal of several high schools, according to the times of the terriers.

He also played four years in Division I football at UMass Amherst and even tried out for several professional teams. He didn’t make it to the NFL, but he was able to play professionally in Italy. For four seasons he played in the Italian American Football Federation.

After returning to the US, he began teaching English and coaching football in Carson City, Nevada, before transitioning to the prison system, the Times reported.

“Honestly, I’m very, very disappointed not to be in Easthampton in that building,” he told the Gazette last week. ‘I’m just sad.’

He said a meeting to organize the next superintendent has been set for Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.