Rehoboth Selectmen Praise Runey

Dighton-Rehoboth School Superintendent William Runey was praised by the Rehoboth Board of Selectmen Monday. 

Selectman George Solas said Runey was “a breath of fresh air.”

“Superintendent Runey seems to be receptive to some of our concerns,” Selectman Michael Deignan said. “Most of the leadership in the school system has changed. It’s a good time. As I said to (Runey), I’m not holding anybody in the administration accountable for the sins of the father.”

Runey explained his focus was to work on rebuilding trust between the Regional School District and the Town of Rehoboth.

The relationship between the school district and the town has been strained, to say the least.

In 2021, the town of Rehoboth filed a seven count civil lawsuit in the Superior Court of Massachusetts against the Regional School District and the School Committee.

The lawsuit alleged the School District and School Committee “violated the terms of the regional agreement with the Town by undertaking and funding capital projects without the approval of Town Meeting, committed fraud and breached its' fiduciary obligations owed to the citizens and taxpayers of Rehoboth.”

Attorneys for the School District subsequently filed seven counterclaims against the Town of Rehoboth in response to the lawsuit. In addition, the attorneys requested a declaratory judgment stating the court has “no authority or jurisdiction to de-regionalize the Dighton-Rehoboth Regional School District.”.

On August 6, Rehoboth voters soundly rejected a proposal to withdraw Kindergarten through 8th grade from the district.

“I don’t fault the Rehoboth (residents) for wanting to pursue that,” Runey told the Reporter. “I’m all about civic advocacy but I am glad we were able to prevail in that situation. Now we can focus on the concerns that Rehoboth has, to make ourselves a bigger and better district.”