WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — A blogger and frequent critic of the elementary school's administration may have violated the privacy of a teacher at the school by writing about her job status.

 

In a Wednesday blog post, Sam Crane wrote that Side-By-Side teacher Fern Murtagh had received a "letter [which] was, in effect, a notification of 'reduction in force.' "

 

Crane alleges the letter was in violation of the the Williamstown Elementary School's contract with its teachers union and argues it amounts to "harassment" and "retaliation" against Murtagh for her comments at May's annual town meeting in support of restoring a full-day section of the Side-By-Side special education program to the fiscal 2017 budget.

 

When reached for comment on Wednesday afternoon, neither Murtagh nor Superintendent Douglas Dias confirmed that any letter was sent by the district. Dias said if such a letter did exist, it would be a personnel matter he is not at liberty to discuss.

 

Murtagh replied by email, "There is a process that needs to happen, so there is no comment. I hope you will respect this."

 

Murtagh did not respond to a followup email asking if she was the source for Crane's blog post.

 

Dias confirmed that, "All personnel letters are sent only to the individual, union leadership and administrators."

 

Crane did not attribute his information to any source.

 

At the annual town meeting, Crane introduced an amendment to cut the elementary school budget by $27, a symbolic gesture representing one dollar for each year of the Side-By-Side special education program's existence.

 

At the same meeting, Murtagh told voters that the decision about whether to reinstate full-day Side-By-Side was not about her, that, in fact, her job was secure one way or the other.

 

"I want people to understand, I will have a job next year, so this discussion is not about me," she said.

 

Murtagh has made several public comments supporting the continuation of Side-By-Side as it is: with both half-day and full-day sections. The administration has maintained that the program can serve the special education population it is designed to serve with two half-day sections, but just before annual town meeting, the Elementary School Committee approved a budget proposed by Dias that added a third half-day section.

 

Murtagh's public comments have always focused on the benefits of Side-By-Side and avoided the acrimony and attacks on administrators that have occasionally shown up in discussions on social media — and which permeated Crane's blog on Wednesday.

 

"Everything about this stinks of vindictive harassment," Crane wrote.

 

"Things at WES appear to be going from bad to worse. The travesty surrounding the cut of full day Side by Side is an on-going embarrassment to Williamstown, and now we seem to be moving from ridiculous to repulsive. Has the WES leadership stooped to raw retaliation against a teacher for exercising her first amendment [sic] rights? It looks that way and it stinks."