Hi Stephen,

October 23, 2013What questions do you have for the mayoral candidates?

by Emily Costello

(beginning redacted as not relevant) Are there important issues in the city that you feel arent being discussed by the candidates?(first responses omitted as not relevant to this issue)

Neal Fleisher permalink

October 29, 2013, 12:24 PM

I would like to ask the Mayor and the challenger how they feel about a school committee member releasing a confidential letter from the DOE to other individuals in the community. I refer to Matt Hills giving Gail Spector a letter containing the name of the complainant and the associated child. The result was for Ms. Spector to then post a copy of the letter on the internet, while drawing attention to it on a website she helps run.Do you feel that these types of actions, seemingly politically motivated, tend to fracture relationships in the community?What responsibility does the Mayor have in taking action in response to such unethical behavior? What action as Mayor would you take?(next two comments not relevant)

Ted Hess-Mahan permalink

October 29, 2013, 3:14 PM

Neal, I contacted DESEs Program Quality Assurance Services department this morning, and was informed that while documents concerning a complaint are public records, any information that identifies a student or parent, including name, address, phone number, even the gender of the child, is confidential and must be redacted prior to such documents being disclosed to third parties.

That did not happen here, and the responsibility falls squarely on the Superintendent and members of the School Committee responsible for failing to protect the privacy rights of the parent and child involved. The Mayor is an ex officio member of the School Committee and shares this responsibility, and should take steps to ensure that this does not happen again. This breach of privacy rights was both avoidable and inexcusable, and as Mayor, I would make sure that the NPS administration and School Committee members are properly trained and counseled to ensure that the privacy rights of every student and their parents are protected, so that the Administration and School Committee can be held accountable for their actions or lack of care.

Educators and School Committee members alike have an obligation to serve the best interests and protect the rights of every child in the public schools, whether they agree with the parents politics or not. Regardless of their motivation, violating the privacy rights of a parent and child placed in their care is a serious breach of the trust placed in them, and does real harm to the relationship between the public schools and the community. More than a mere apology is required to remediate the harm that was done here.

tom sheff permalink

October 29, 2013, 4:46 PM

The Mayor constantly talks about building trust, it wouldnt surprise me if the actions of the SC have harmed the citizens trust with the government. Why did he take it upon himself to show the letter to Gail to begin with, thats what I dont get.

Neal Fleisher permalink

October 30, 2013, 10:46 AM

Thanks for your reply Ted.I agree completely.To this moment, the name of the parent is still published with a link through Village14, Gail Spector arrogantly refuses to remove it. I am stunned that the city has not taken action to date to force Village14 to remove all trace of any names related to the document.

Ms Spectors actions are beyond regrettable at this point, they are inexcusable.In my opinion Mr. Hills actions should result in his stepping down from a leadership position on the school committee.

The Mayors silence on this entire incident is unfortunate, and shows a true lack of courage and leadership.

(next comment not relevant)

Jerry Reilly

October 30, 2013, 11:28 AM

@Neal As far as I know, and can see, youre mistaken. Gail Specter wasnt aware of the students name being on the document when she posted it. She was notified by a reader and then blacked out the name in the posted PDF file. That happened many days ago (10/26). There was a delay of about a day or so between when she was notified that the student name was on the document and when it was deleted that was due to a technical issue rather than any reluctance to remove the students name. I know, because there were some emails back and forth between Gail and various people looking for a way to edit a PDF file.Gail was adamant that the document itself (without the students name) should remain posted. Maybe thats where the confusion came in. Others besides you have also reported that she never removed the students name. All I can think of is that perhaps you were viewing a cached copy of the document on your PC.

Neal Fleisher permalink

October 30, 2013, 11:58 AM

Jerry: You are flat wrong. First, and foremost, the parents name has remained throughout. Second, the item could have and should have been taken down, until fixed. Not left up there.

Third, I think it shameful on your part specifically, to have been quiet throughout this entire debacle, allowing personal friendships to overshadow the rights and privacy of individuals in the community.

Your excuses fall short and are empty, as it would have been very simple to explain to the community, that a mistake had occurred, you were working on correcting it, but were having technical problems; and until you figured out how to edit a PDF, the document would be offline.

Further, Gail argued to many posts, that she had every right to post the entire document, as it was a public record.

What I posted was and is accurate. She delayed removing the students name and has still not removed the parents name. Why not? and why arent you publicly calling for her to do so?

Neal Fleisher

October 30, 2013, 12:01 PM

To the point Jerry: these are in sequence from Village14. You still want to say she didnt know?

Neal

Neal Fleisher

October 30, 2013, 12:17 PM

One other thing Jerry: It took over two days to get the minors name off? Gail could have printed the letter, blacked out the inappropriate aspects, rescanned, and re posted. That would take 20 minutes, if she decided to lay down and take a 10 minute power nap, because all that thinking made her tired. Multiple people couldnt figure that out?

Jerry Reilly

October 30, 2013, 12:37 PM

Neal A few comments

* Sorry I misread your note. I thought you were referring to the students name, not the parents name. * You say that I should be ashamed to have been quiet throughout this entire debacle allowing friendships to overshadow the rights and privacy of individuals. I have met Gail a couple of times but that had nothing to with avoiding that thread. I like to avoid food fights and thats pretty much how Id characterize that whole thread. - you were working on correcting it until you figured out how to edit a PDF file. No, I didnt say anything like that. I neither wrote the post, commented on the post, worked on editing a PDF file, or had any involvement with the post. The only thing I said is that I, as well as a number of other folks received an email asking whether anyone knew how to edit a PDF file. I didnt, so I didnt reply.* As for publicly calling for Gail to remove the parents name. Im not sure why that should be an issue. Neither the parents anonymity or confidentiality seems to have been broken. The parent has been very forthright and public on the blog about her involvement in this issue.

Neal Fleisher

October 30, 2013, 4:23 PM

Jerry: I guess you dont get it either then. You and Gail do not get to choose when to release confidential information in the form of the name of a complainant to the DOE. The fact an individual is outspoken on any issue does not give you the right to release their name on a letter relating to their child.

This is no food fight, this is about respecting others in our community. It is time for you to understand it, it is pretty clear.If you participate in a blog that violates the privacy rights of others, and you do not speak out against it, then you become a tangible part of the problem.

Gail was wrong in what she did, and you are wrong in defending her. Why no comment on the fact that she clearly understood about the minors name appearing from the start? Those blog comments in the earliest part of the thread contradict your statements.

NewtonMoneyLove

November 2, 2013, 6:30 PM

Neal-Smart, savvy journalists usually have an instinct, developed over time, thatindicates when an issue is a loser. Whether Ms. Spector was legally allowed to post the letter is not the issue. The issue at hand, and the determining factor in this debate is should the childs name on the document been redacted, erased, blacked out or otherwise not included. Yes. Period. End of story. Doesnt matter whether it was legal or not. The need to be right should never have been a consideration before or after the posting of it. While im troubled by the document ending up in Spectors hands, im more troubled that the mother of two children, one of them a girl, does not possess the human instinct to protect a child whether that child is hers or not. Lets be clear here. Spector is no dummy. She knew the childs name was on that document when she posted it and she knew what the result would be. To be unaware of the childs name on the name would have been sloppy journalism, and Spector knows it. Unlike former Globe West writer Matt Viser who has become a superb national journalist, Spector has used her bully pulpit becoming the story instead of covering it anonymously whether she was serving as the Globe West writer prior to Matt Viser, the editor of the TAB or as a contributing blogger to Village 14. If i were the girls family i would slap a lawsuit on Spector so fast it would make her head spin- even if it was a nuisance suit. Newton residents might also ask if Village 14, a website dedicated to all things Newton is the appropriate vehicle for such poison. Greg Reibman- Villlage 14 editor is also the head of the Newton- Needham Chamber of Commerce. Maybe a few phone callsto his bosses would be instructive to them. Ultimately Spector has failed to understandthat there are three types of people that society as a whole holds in low regard:

People who endanger or prey on children

People who endanger or prey on the elderly

People who endanger or prey on the mentally or physically handicapped.

Good luck to Spector. She will need it with this envelope pushing mess!

Mr. Hess-Mahan is a Newton Alderman

This discussion concerns the unlawful transmission of my childs name, my name, our address, and other confidential information by the Tab and village14.com in October, 2013. The Commonwealth ruled that this information was confidential and unlawfully obtained, yet the publishers including the Tab refuse to remove it. As of May 30, 2015 t/he publications remain online.

This is false. Due to being stalked in 2010, for several years I was careful NOT to attract publicity.

Hills did receive training on student confidentiality law, and as School Committee Chair is charged with knowing relevant rules and regulations. It is not difficult to realize that no one should forward another persons private mail, especially an official letter concerning a minor child, to the media.

My childs name remained visible until the Letter was removed by the web platform. My name, and false and defamatory claims about me, are still visible.

Nineteen months later, the results of Hills and Spectors acts are still ongoing

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