School Committee Interviews Business Manager Candidates And Debates Busing Controversy-September 5, 1979

The School Committee conducted formal interviews last night with two prospective candidates for the vacant business manager position while becoming embroiled in a stormy debate regarding student transportation contracts and administrative authority.

The committee interviewed Ralph E. Brooks, business manager for Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, and John D. Sheehan, assistant business administrator in Weymouth, who are vying to succeed Lawrence S. Canter following his resignation.

Busing Controversy and Yellow Cab Dispute

In addition to administrative interviews, the session flared into heated debate over student busing. On a motion by member Richard Joseph, the committee agreed to meet with Yellow Cab President Richard Armour and Town Counsel Justin Barton, stipulating that Armour must appear strictly as a “private taxpayer” rather than a corporate representative, given that Yellow Cab has an active lawsuit pending against the committee over bidding procedures.

Tensions escalated as members Charles Siraca and Joseph Pentowski sharply rebuked Superintendent of Schools Louis J. Taris for reassigning special student bus routes previously held by Yellow Cab to Kiessling School Transportation of Dedham without convening a special school committee meeting. Superintendent Taris authorized the transfer after Yellow Cab indicated it could not fulfill contractual routes without a fee adjustment to offset soaring gasoline prices. Committee Chairman Ruth Berkowitz and member Richard Joseph defended Superintendent Taris’s administrative emergency actions, keeping division within the board on display.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger