Fall River committee approves interim HR director posting and authorizes up to $100,000 for outside investigations

Facing a backlog of personnel investigations and complaints about timeliness, the Fall River School Committee on Feb. 11 approved posting a revised human-resources director job description as an interim appointment and authorized the superintendent to retain outside investigative counsel with a spending cap of $100,000 to consolidate and complete outstanding investigations.

Superintendent Dr. Tracy Curley presented a revised HR director description and discussed interest in a longer-term reorganization of the HR office (models from other districts were cited). Committee members supported an interim appointment to address immediate workload and investigations while they evaluate longer-term structural changes.

Vice Chair and others argued the district needs consistent, timely investigations; one member moved to allow the superintendent to contract with a single law firm to perform pending investigations and to produce timely conclusions. The committee approved that authorization and asked the superintendent to seek a firm with capacity and reasonable billing practices.

Committee members also discussed forming an internal process for future oversight of outside counsel and asked for expectations on turnaround time. Several members urged that contracts include timeframes and budget monitoring to avoid protracted billing without progress.