Smithfield Public Schools Superintendent Dawn Bartz is on paid administrative leave, the town’s School Committee announced Wednesday.
The announcement from School Committee Chair Richard Iannitelli arrived less than 48 hours after a marathon meeting at Smithfield High School attended by hundreds of people from the community. The committee met Monday night for three hours in closed session with Bartz before emerging for a unanimous vote to hire an outside legal team to conduct an investigation into an alleged antisemitic hazing incident among football players in the boys’ locker room.
“Superintendent Dawn Bartz is on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of a legal review regarding the administration’s recent handling of a football matter,” Iannitelli’s statement read. “These steps ensure continued stability and focus on the needs of our students, staff, and families.”
Smithfield Town Manager Robert Seltzer said Iannitelli told him that Bartz is “on voluntary paid leave until further notice.”
“Chair Iannitelli stated that the Committee will not be commenting further at this time,” Sean Clough, the district’s attorney, said in an email.
The Sept. 30 incident discussed at Monday’s meeting involved five senior football players in the boys’ locker room, and a Jewish freshman. The freshman was allegedly locked in a bathroom, sprayed with Lysol through a grate in the door, and taunted with antisemitic slurs.
The seniors were suspended from the team around Oct. 10. Bartz’s role in the controversy stems largely from her having un-suspended the five seniors on Oct. 22, after they appealed their suspensions.
There has been no public explanation for the reinstatements from the district, Bartz or the school committee. On Monday night, the School Committee explained that it could not divulge much more information, as the Rhode Island Attorney General’s office is also investigating the case. The school district has until Nov. 13 to send materials requested by the AG’s office.
‘What do I say?’
The Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island and the Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center — two organizations pressing for more public answers about the incident — released a joint statement Wednesday that they felt “encouraged that action has been taken” and that Bartz being placed on leave “is a significant step, and we await further details on this development.”
“We hope this creates an opportunity to resume the education process with the school to ensure this never happens again,” the statement reads.
Smithfield Town Council President John J. Tassoni said in a phone interview Wednesday that he understood Bartz elected to take a leave, which he described as “a good idea at this particular point.”
Tassoni critiqued Bartz’s reinstatement of the players and said they should have been benched while a possible investigation was in the works.
“As a former union leader,” Tassoni said, “if someone had an issue, you’re out pending the investigation. You’re not out permanently, without an investigation.”
Bartz’s decision to reverse course was “the most disturbing part of this whole thing” for Tassoni, who added, “I think what she did to the town of Smithfield has fragmented the town. It will be a long time before it’s repaired.”
Tassoni, who is president of the Substance Use and Mental Health Leadership Council of Rhode Island, said he went to a conference on Wednesday where people asked him, “What the hell is going on in Smithfield?”
“I mean, what do I say?” he said. “This is what I say: I don’t know. I don’t have any information.”
Tassoni described a “line in the sand” between the all Republican School Committee and the five-member Town Council, which has three Democrats and two Republicans. That boundary has stemmed the flow of information between the two bodies in Tassoni’s view.
“The Town Council’s been in the dark through this whole fiasco, and it’s really unfortunate,” Tassoni said.
Tassoni said he and Iannitelli last spoke when they discussed and agreed to cancel an Oct. 28 joint meeting. Tassoni said he didn’t want the meeting’s non-educational and financial contents to be overshadowed by the controversy.
The reason for reinstating the players is unclear. It is unlikely that neither the players’ suspension or reinstatement affected the Sentinels’ chances to reach the playoffs in their Division IV league. The team had a strong 3-1 record even before the players were suspended on Oct. 10.
The players were reinstated on Oct. 22, two days before Senior Night, the last home game of the season where outgoing seniors are celebrated on their home turf. The Sentinels secured a 16-6 victory over the Exeter-West Greenwich Scarlet Knights that Friday evening.
The Smithfield Sentinels closed the season with a 5-2 league record. They also won their only game which happened while the five players were suspended, with the Sentinels defeating the Juanita Sanchez Complex Cavaliers 14-6 on Oct. 18.
The team’s next matchup is a playoff game at home on Friday, against the Scituate Spartans.
The attorney for the senior students’ families, Gregory Piccirilli, did not respond to a request for comment from Rhode Island Current, but did tell the Boston Globe that, “We don’t want any adverse action against anyone.”
“What we have wanted is public clarity from the administration that the boys neither admitted to nor engaged in any antisemitic behavior, and that there is no evidence supporting the accusation,” Piccirilli told the Globe.
Smithfield Assistant Superintendent Lisa Odom‑Villella will serve in Bartz’s stead as acting superintendent. Odom-Villella has been with the district for about six months, and was previously deputy commissioner at the Rhode Island Department of Education, according to her LinkedIn profile.
This story was originally published by the Rhode Island Current.
