HUNTINGTON – Parents, staff, students and community members are invited to a “Meet & Greet” with Kurt Garivaltis, candidate for Gateway’s Director of Pupil Services, a position open due to the upcoming retirement of Alice Taverna. The reception will be held in the Gateway Career Center (2nd floor) on Wednesday, July 13 from 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. Light refreshments will be served.
The reception precedes a vote on Garivaltis’ appointment by the Gateway Regional School Committee that same night at their 7p.m. meeting at Russell Town Hall. The public is also invited to attend the School Committee meeting.
Garivaltis has an extensive background that includes an early career with the Department of Social Services and several private schools serving students with a range of needs; along with seven years at Adams-Cheshire Regional School District as a Supervisor, then Director of Special Services.
While at Adams-Cheshire Regional, his responsibilities included supervising and evaluating all special education staff; obtaining and managing related Federal and State grants; successfully re-integrating out-of- district placements; and overseeing all early childhood programs, IEP approvals, and summer/extended year programs.
Garivaltis’ most recent position was at the Eagleton School in Great Barrington, first as Director of Marketing and Admissions, and this year he was appointed Acting Director of Program Education by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to oversee the closure of the school in April following Early Education and Childcare (EEC) and DESE sanctions against the school. In that role, Garivaltis was responsible for safely and successfully transitioning 76 intensive needs students with disabilities to care facilities, homes and step down programs throughout the country.
Garivaltis has also been open and forthright about his addiction to prescription pain medications, an illness he incurred while rehabilitating from a horrific snowmobile accident.
“In 2006, I was in a terrible snowmobiling accident. I shattered my pelvis, broke my spine in three places, 19 broken bones in all,“ Garivaltis said, describing the accident. Following recovery in the hospital, he spent two months in rehabilitation. He said over the course of the following five years, and being prescribed five different opioid medications, he became addicted.
Garivaltis said before the accident, he had “no experience, history or knowledge of addiction or recovery.” Ultimately, he was arrested and charged with possession of one Percocet pill while he was special education director in the Adams-Cheshire District, and subsequently lost his position.
The charge was continued without a finding, and dismissed.
“Since that time, I have been engaged in a rigorous course of recovery,” Garivaltis said. He sees the same orthopedic specialist that he went to a couple of years after the accident. He’s also been in therapy, and participates in a 12 step recovery program.
“The opioid problem is very significant. One of the things I do as part of my recovery is to speak with children and adults who have come into contact with opioids prescribed legally,” he said.
Initially, the arrest resulted in the suspension of his license as a special ed administrator for all levels. After completing an investigation by DESE, forensic evaluations, approval from EEC, and a letter of employability from a CORI background check, his licenses were reinstated without prejudice. He said his professional references include people from both state agencies.
“He was the most experienced candidate for our district, and comes with a strong recommendation from his previous superintendent,” Superintendent David Hopson, who chaired the search committee, reported to the School Committee at their June 22 meeting.
Retiring Director of Pupil Services Alice Taverna said she knew Garivaltis professionally when she was the special education director in Lee, and he was special education director in Adams-Cheshire. She said his particular strengths are in behavioral issues, and she consulted him on several occasions when she was having difficulties.
“He was professionally competent. He helped me when I had problems with kids, and I just needed an ear,” Taverna said. She believes that he will be able to step in to the new role in Gateway quickly, with a short learning curve.
While Taverna said she knew Garivaltis before his struggles, she remembers when he had the accident and was out for months. She said that he’s very open about that time.
“I don’t think he wants to have anything hidden. As a leadership team, we wanted everything to be transparent. There isn’t anything wrong with overcoming an addiction,” Taverna said.
The School Committee’s confirmation on Garivaltis was held for two weeks, in order for the public to hear his story, and to meet him this Wednesday.
“We did want to be upfront and let everyone know,” Hopson said. He believes the experience has given Garivaltis a clearer understanding of what some of the students have been through. He also said he has heard very little from the community about the candidate.
The position of Director of Pupil Services works primarily with students who have an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) or a 504 Plan. Taverna said there are 170 students on IEPs at Gateway, from pre-kindergarten through those students who stay until they turn 22.
Hopson said if Garivaltis is not approved by the School Committee, he will probably have to put somebody in on a temporary basis. The Director of Pupil Services is a state-required position, and one of only three that need School Committee approval. The other two are Superintendent and Business Manager.
Hopson said he is not anticipating that the School Committee will not move forward on his recommendation.
For his part, Garivaltis said he is looking forward to coming to Gateway.
“I am most interested in the fact that it’s a small, rural school district, where I can work closely with students and staff in a classroom setting,” he said, noting the district’s similarity to where he grew up in the Berkshires.
He said Gateway has a deeply committed staff that is incredibly passionate about educating children and working with the whole child. He said while he has had other offers, he held out for Gateway because of its philosophy, vision and ideals
“I hope to be there for the next 20 years,” he said.
