An attorney for the Barrington School Department has called for the postponement of the appeal hearing for three suspended Barrington teachers that had been set for Thursday, Dec. 16.

The request for a continuance was filed the day before the hearing. It cited two reasons — the first was the recent threat written on a bathroom wall at Barrington High School, and the second is the court hearing that is set for Friday, Dec. 17 to discuss the lawsuit filed by the teachers against the school committee.

An email from school officials stated that the district’s response to the threat required the full attention of the superintendent and staff. It stated that the administrators did not have the time needed to prepare for the appeal hearing, which was to be held in the Barrington Middle School cafeteria at 6 p.m. 

It also stated that Barrington school officials and their legal counsel also needed to time to prepare for the Dec. 17 preliminary injunction hearing, which is expected to be held before Judge Lanphear. 

“…the preparation for the Court matter must take precedence, especially given the very limited time frame afforded the Committee to prepare (It was served with papers less than 2 weeks ago.).”

School officials are asking that the appeal hearing be moved to Jan. 6.

On Wednesday night, Dec. 8 the Barrington School Committee held a meeting that focused on the upcoming appeal hearing for the three unvaccinated Barrington teachers who had been placed on unpaid leave and are facing termination on Jan. 1 because they did not follow the district’s vaccine mandate. School committee members spent the bulk of the meeting listening to attorney Jon Anderson discuss how the appeal hearing will proceed.

Brittany DiOrio, Kerri Thurber and Stephanie Hines are appealing the school committee’s earlier vote to terminate their employment should they not get vaccinated. The teachers requested religious exemptions from the district’s vaccine mandate, but the school committee followed the superintendent’s recommendation to deny the requests, citing an “undue burden” the teachers’ unvaccinated status would place on the school department.

It is not clear how the delayed hearing could impact the termination deadline, after all, the hearing is now going to be held five days after the Jan. 1 date. 

An email from the district’s attorney to the teachers’ attorney stated: “There is no prejudice to the plaintiffs since any reversal or modification by the Committee of its Oct. 28 decision to terminate effective Jan. 1, can be addressed monetarily.”