Cumberland taxpayers may avoid a repeat of an outside investigation that a committee member said cost about $80,000, but an answer on whether the state will review the district’s teacher non-renewal process is not expected until September 24.
The Cumberland School Committee voted 4-2 on Thursday, September 10, to have its attorney contact the Rhode Island Attorney General’s office before hiring an independent investigator to review a former non-tenured teacher’s complaint about how her contract non-renewal was handled.
The item on the agenda was a recommendation from Thornton, superintendent of the Cumberland School Department, to hire an independent investigator. According to the committee’s published meeting recording, Thornton said he asked the chair to place it there himself, and read a prepared statement…