On October 15th, we learned that principal Purnima DeMorais of the Harmony Grove (formerly Woodrow Wilson) Elementary School had tendered her resignation. We did some digging and some brave Harmony Grove employees came forward to us as whistleblowers. While in some cases we knew their identities, in other cases, they spoke to us anonymously. In all cases we treated all employee whistleblowers as anonymous sources. READ ALL THE ANONYMOUS TIPS/POSTS
DISCLAIMER: Elements within this post were submitted to us through our 100% anonymous tip system, and being anonymous, should not be considered factual or newsworthy. It is unverified and should be considered as only the opinion of the anonymous submitter. SUBMIT YOUR OWN ANONYMOUS TIP!
A source suggested to us that DeMorais leaving was not a personal choice, that she had been under investigation by Human Resources for over 6 months, and was facing termination, had she not left on her own.
We were told that she hired her own son-in-law as an interventionist during COVID remote learning, and he never really showed up. He didn’t go to scheduled meetings or classes, and if he did, his video and microphone would be off and he would not respond. He did not support the Harmony Grove students as an interventionist should have, and she would not terminate or replace him. Staff eventually figured out the family connection. In DeMorais’s first year, she hired her own daughter, who only showed up to work a few times, but remained paid by the school district for many months, on “medical leave”.
Inappropriate hiring didn’t end with her family. She hired a yoga instructor friend to lead voluntary meetings and other after school sessions, that nobody really attended, but she kept hiring him in that role.
There were also poor hires. She hired a ESL coach with only a K-2 teaching license and no ESL certification. The other ESL coach was ineffective in that role, and was purportedly a close friend of DeMorais. She hired a literacy coach who publicly admitted a month into the job that she hadn’t looked at the curriculum.
A source wrote, “The previous ESL coach remained in the role without actually going in classrooms for his three years and never having a single coaching cycle with any teachers. Maybe we’re fortunate for that, because he became physically aggressive with those that disagreed with him, yet he stayed on the job.”
The Dual Language program is supposed to be comprised of 1/3 native English speakers, 1/3 bilingual students and 1/3 Portuguese speakers. But at Harmony Grove it is 90% comprised of native Portuguese speakers and the program is completely failing.
Teachers told us that often times, they were retaliated against by DeMorais for merely doing their jobs, including advocating for their students. We were told that she fired lots of good employees, and if she couldn’t fire them she would move them around trying to get them to quit. Within employee groups, Demorais would put elements of her inner circle to sit in and act as moles.
There were lies. There were suggestions that the school’s CVR data over the last few years was fake. She packed focus groups at the last state visit with teachers without professional status who were afraid to speak up.
DISCLAIMER: Elements within this post were submitted to us through our 100% anonymous tip system, and being anonymous, should not be considered factual or newsworthy. It is unverified and should be considered as only the opinion of the anonymous submitter. SUBMIT YOUR OWN ANONYMOUS TIP!
One of our tipsters wrote, “Good luck Tewksbury, Principal Purnima has gone completely crazy!! She sent her whole staff a wild email full of anger and lies in response to discovering the truth coming out on FU. The easiest lie to spot? That the students know who she is, sorry lady you were NOT on the playground, at lunch or in classrooms unless it was a 1 minute CVR or a media photo op. Farewell! Goodbye!!! We’re so glad you were ‘heavily recruited’ by Tewksbury.”
Obtaining a copy of that ‘wild email’ was tougher than it should have been. We submitted round upon round of Freedom of Information Act requests, and kept getting shot down by the school department’s Records Access Officer, Amy Kane. Demorais sent the email as a shared google document link, and within a few hours of sending the message, she deleted the root document, essentially making a public record disappear. Today, we obtained that email.
We were floored that in the final email to her staff, she attacked those employees brave enough to speak out to us about wrongdoing as ‘toxic individuals’.
CLICK TO ENLARGE THE EMAIL PAGES BELOW
Some of these ‘toxic individuals’ tell us that with the new interim principal Juliana Kessler Marco, it is night and day. They are thankful that a real leader is at the helm and that they can do their jobs without fear of retaliation. In the end it was apparent that the true toxins were really Demorais and her friends.
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Wow – This line caught my eyes . She does favor to family members “Staff eventually figured out the family connection. In DeMorais’s first year, she hired her own daughter, who only showed up to work a few times, but remained paid by the school district for many months, on “medical leave”.”
Sources have told me that she has placed her daughter using her old connections at Blackstone-Millville Regional High School. She and superintendent of schools at Blackstone-Millville School District are buddies and she has family connection or “special-Bond” with superintendent of Blackstone-Millville Regional School District in MA. It is not difficult to find out from google search that they both worked together at Arthur D. Healey (K-8) School in Somerville, Mass. Purnima surely knows how and where to use connections for her personal benefits. I guess she believes in “Family First – Merit Last”.
Good Luck Ms. Purnima (Fraud) Demorias soon you and your wrong doings will be exposed to the world.
Superintendent of schools at Blackstone-Millville School District has been helping her as a good reference to get her new jobs, every time she is fired at end of her 3 year contract. There is “SPECIAL BOND” between her and superintendent of schools at Blackstone-Millville School District. Someone please investigate her shady background…..