Mashpee School Committee’s Investigation into Superintendent Still not Complete

CCB MEDIA PHOTO
Mashpee Superintedent of Schools Brian Hyde

MASHPEE – Mashpee Selectman Andrew Gottlieb is urging the School Committee to wrap up its private investigation into the alleged actions of its Superintendent of Schools Brian Hyde.

Hyde awaits trial for charges of breaking and entering and trespassing during a residency check at a student’s home in September.

In October, the school committee voted to hire Data Quest to perform the investigation with a completion by November 13.

Gottlieb said the delay is causing concerns from residents.

“I think that has raised questions in a lot of the minds of the residents of the town exactly why an investigation that the police department was able to wrap up in a matter of weeks has dragged on through the New Year,” Gottlieb said. “The longer something like this takes, the longer the schools and the students and the families who have concerns about the schools face a degree of uncertainty and question the leadership.”

Gottlieb believes the delay has a cost to the public’s confidence that the investigation is being handled properly.

Gottlieb would not speculate as to what has caused the investigation to last so long but said that the simple facts are that there is a police report that included sufficient evidence for a clerk magistrate to rule that a criminal trial was appropriate.

“Why we can’t get a thorough, independent administrative review of the facts to compliment that criminal investigation is inexplicable to me,” Gottlieb said.

A bench trial for Hyde is scheduled to begin on January 15 in Falmouth District Court. Hyde is on paid administrative leave.

By BRIAN MERCHANT, CapeCod.com NewsCenter