Long-simmering tensions in Northport boiled over at a school board meeting this week, with several parents harshly criticizing Superintendent Neil Wetherbee for his perceived hostility toward parents and the school board for a lack of oversight.

Monday’s regular board meeting was moved to a gym to accommodate the larger crowd, and parents during public comment took turns sharing various concerns that have been circulating on social media for months. Among them are accusations that Wetherbee, Northport’s superintendent since 2016, is antagonistic and disrespectful to parents with questions or concerns.

This has been a major reason why more than 70 students who live in district (Northport has only 107 enrolled) go to school elsewhere via school of choice, upset parents claim.

“Let’s be clear: those parents, including your own dedicated teachers and staff who quietly send their own children to neighboring districts, are not the problem – they are a symptom,” parent Eric Potes told the board.

PTO leader Laura Cavendish echoed those sentiments, stating that more than half of the families she started the PTO with a few years back have now left the district.

“While I agree that families leaving our school is hurting us, I do not believe those parents are the problem,” she told the board. “Parents are telling you they are leaving out of fear and frustration, fear of retaliation against their children. Frustration over their treatment from the administration. And when those parents come forward and express that fear and frustration, the response cannot be: You are the problem.”

Critical parents also cite a survey recently commissioned by the district itself that showed that 64 percent of families that left the district (or are considering it) selected “dissatisfaction with school leadership and administration” as a reason for leaving. It was the most popular choice on a list of a dozen options.

Some parents expressed frustration that a problem is not acknowledged by school leadership.

“It’s got to start with some ownership. Maybe some of us parents are a little pissed off…but that’s what frustration and constantly getting pushback does,” parent Matt Dignan said. “I have heard absolutely no accountability from the superintendent or the board about how parents are treated.”

A few also called for the resignation of Tom Wetherbee, Neil’s father, from the school board. Wetherbee has been on the board for almost 20 years, previously serving as president.

Former board member Jamie Scripps accused Tom of acting as an enforcer of sorts for his son and working to keep the board in line. Scripps cited these concerns when she resigned from the board in June.

“I remember clearly the numerous school board meetings in this building during which board members barely uttered a word, where it was so unusual to ask questions that when I did so as a new board member, the reaction was swift and angry, and former board president Tom Wetherbee told me that my job as a board member was to simply trust his son, Neil,” she said to the board. “I’m here to remind you that none of this is normal.”

Speaking to The Ticker on Tuesday, Tom Wetherbee denied these allegations.

“She’s making that up,” he said. “She may feel I’ve said that, but I never said those sort of things.”

Several teachers and other school staffers at the meeting spoke in strong defense of Neil Wetherbee and condemned online “bullying” by certain parents. First grade teacher Mollie Brendel called the ongoing criticism of the superintendent a “witch hunt.”

“Not liking someone does not mean they are not doing their job well, in fact, the opposite might actually be more true: that they are doing the hard things, the unpopular things, the necessary things and doing them quite effectively,” she said. “There is no evidence that Neil is not fulfilling his responsibilities; as a matter of fact, there’s a substantial body of data showing how effective he is.”

School secretary Elizabeth Schwind said the “relentless negativity” surrounding Neil Wetherbee is damaging to the community.

“I have spent thousands of hours over more than eight years working alongside Neil,” she said. “I have known him as a boss, a leader and a person….and in my experience, he’s an excellent superintendent and a good man who genuinely cares about doing what is best for kids.”

Neil Wetherbee spoke at the meeting, citing data that shows Northport is in substantially better academic shape than it was when he took over. Speaking with The Ticker on Tuesday, he cautioned against drawing too many conclusions from the aforementioned survey or by school of choice numbers.

The survey only had 22 respondents representing families who had kids enrolled elsewhere, he said, with many others who left the district unreachable or unresponsive. Furthermore, he said, the majority of resident students who go elsewhere via school of choice never attended Northport in the first place.

Asked specifically by The Ticker if there is a problem or room for improvement with parent communication, Wetherbee said “there’s always an opportunity to improve on everything that we do."

“I think there are certainly people who have concerns, and I’m happy to talk with each individual about their concerns,” he said.