The future of the school district’s chief of staff position remains uncertain after Supt. Madeline Negrón did not bring her previously recommended candidate back before the Board of Education last week, following a narrow vote to table the appointment two weeks before. That’s the latest wit h the executive management position that has been vacant for the past two years. While the school board voted 4-3 to hold off on approving Negrón’s Sept. 14 recommendation of Tamesha Webb for the role, the personnel appointment did not return to the Board of Education at its most recent meeting at King/Robinson school on Monday, Sept. 28. New Haven Public Schools’ (NHPS) last chief of staff, Michael Finley, resigned in July 2024 after three years in the role. Negrón has described the role as serving as her “right hand” and explained that the position is the “connective tissue” across all district departments, helping NHPS have stronger operational oversight. After Monday’s meeting, the Independent asked Negrón for an update on her tabled recommendation for Tamesha Webb to serve as chief of staff. She said, “I do not have a comment on that.” When asked if her recommendation will return to the school board for a potential future vote, Negrón said, “I don’t believe it’s going to come back because you saw it wasn’t on the personnel report.” She confirmed that the position remains open. All of this comes after the Sept. 14 Board of Education meeting, where board secretary Edward Joyner made the motion to table the chief of staff recommendation and voted yes along with three of his colleagues. He was concerned that only one candidate had been interviewed for the role. He also told the Independent he did not believe the recommended candidate, Webb, was the right person to pick for this NHPS role, and said that some of her resume credentials were not verifiable. Board of Education President OrLando Yarborough, Vice President Matt Wilcox, and member Andrea Downer had also voted in favor of tabling the item back on Sept. 14. While Wilcox expressed concern at the time with holding off on filling the needed position, he explained that he supports his board colleagues’ request for more information. At last Monday’s meeting, fellow board member Daniel Juarez briefly noted, “I was disappointed with the outcome of that vote,” a reference to his support for the superintendent’s bid to hire Webb as chief of staff. Webb did not respond to the Independent’s request for comment by the publication time of this article. Joyner told the Independent in a Tuesday interview that he felt obligated to raise questions about how several aspects of Webb’s experience and qualifications were represented in her resume compared to publicly available records, as well as whether those qualifications meet the requirements of the chief of staff position. Joyner said he had questions about her supervisory experience, her Connecticut certification, and how NHPS calculated her qualifying years of experience. Joyner said it is the board’s duty to call for the verification of official employment, personnel and certification records before approving hires. Webb’s resume states that she received a doctor of education leadership from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. It also states that she currently serves as the executive director of teaching and learning and as a superintendent resident at the Uniondale Union Free School District in Uniondale, N.Y. “We can’t confirm an appointment with insufficient evidence that they have the body of work claimed,” he said. “It should be crystal clear that the person meets the qualifications specified to meet the job description.” He pointed out that he has a 100 percent voting record of supporting the superintendent’s personnel recommendations, which is why he pushed to table the matter until his questions could be answered and verifications occurred. Without verification, he said, “We end up with lawsuits that are indefensible.” He concluded that he hopes his board colleagues support upholding the obligation to a thorough recruitment and hiring process. “Any board member who would accept a poorly executed recruitment and hiring process should look in the mirror,” he said. The post NHPS Chief Of Staff Role Still Vacant appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less