Debated Hockey Report Approved-June 8, 1964

School Board Settles Fierce Three-Week Dispute Over Boston Arena Withdrawal Transcript

The Norwood School Committee has, after a delay of more than a month, approved the minutes to the March 21 executive session discussion of Norwood’s part in the withdrawal of the Bay State League from the Boston Arena hockey program. The approval of the detailed proceedings compiled in a 37-page report had been requested at four consecutive meetings before they were finally accepted. However, the 37-page report will not be “the official” record of the meeting and will only appear in the committee’s records on a somewhat conditional basis. A compromise proposal framed by Joseph Olshan provides that the 37-page report appear in the final records with an accompanying note which states that the lengthy document is “unofficial.” A separate eight-page synopsis of the original report details the varying arguments of certain members of the board regarding the proceedings that led to Norwood’s withdrawal from the Boston Arena hockey program.

The controversial move of the leagues was the primary subject of a nearly four-hour debate by the school board at the Saturday, March 21, special session. In all the discussions and on all votes bearing on the report, the board split along four to three lines with Chairman Francis X. Sheehan, William Egan, and Joseph Curran opposed to all proposals that would delete or remove the 37-page document from the public record. John Cavanaugh led the balance of the board in opposition to the report as the sole record of the events of the day in question, repeatedly terming it “incomplete.” The decision to withdraw had been made several days before the March 21 meeting at a meeting of high school administrators from each of the eight Bay State League towns. Much of the discussion at the March 21 school board meeting centered on the question of whether Norwood school officials should have communicated with the school committee before authorizing a vote to go along with the league majority and pull out of the arena in favor of playing the schedule at the Loring Rink in Framingham.

The same four members who opposed the report as the sole record agreed essentially that Dr. Coakley and Principal Charles Hayden had acted wisely and properly in casting Norwood’s vote for the move without first seeking direction from the school committee. At several points in the transcript, Cavanaugh, Henry, and Mr. C. [Cavanaugh/truncated in source text] all said they favored the switch to the Framingham rink. Mr. Sheehan, Mr. Curran, and Mr. Egan repeatedly emphasized that school officials should have contacted the board before a final decision on the way Norwood would vote was made. The three members also maintained that due to the fast-paced nature of the long March 21 discussion, it was physically impossible for the secretary to keep up with the pace of the proceedings. Accordingly, the majority faction of the committee maintained that the transcript is incomplete in places and would prove misleading if it remained as the sole record.

The balance of the testimony in the transcript relates to varying points of view that the individual board members held regarding playing and spectator conditions in the Boston Arena and related other matters. At several points in the transcript, Mr. Cavanaugh is quoted as saying that similar decisions have long been left to the administrators and that he saw no reason for a change in policy. The positions held by school administrators from other towns were among other subjects commented on at the March 21 meeting. A January letter written by the Norwood board citing conditions in the arena and the quality of the newspaper publicity that the league’s action occasioned is also included in full in the transcript. The testimony of Mr. Hayden, Athletic Director Andrew Scafati, and Nardozzi is also included in full in the transcript. The final vote of the administrators of the Bay State League members that led to the Framingham move was seven to two, with one community’s representative abstaining.

Original Article: The Patriot Ledger