In a bizarre email to alumni and parents, the Brooks School in North Andover disclosed that its former headmaster had engaged in inappropriate relationships with a student and escorts and appealed for any information that might call into question the headmaster’s conduct.
The email sent by John Packard, the current head of school, and William Booth, president of the board of trustees, raised more questions than it answered about Lawrence W. Becker, who was headmaster at the elite prep school from 1986 to 2008.
Packard and Booth said Becker engaged in a relationship with a student that was “objectionable, manipulative, and an abuse of his position.” They also said Becker had hired escorts while he was headmaster and afterward who later threatened him. The school apparently began investigating Becker’s activities after receiving anonymous emails about him last summer. Similar emails were sent to Becker’s current employer, which severed ties with him in September, according to the Globe.
Despite the ominous tone of the Brooks email, it remains unclear what exactly happened. School officials would not describe the nature of the relationship with the student and offered few details about the escorts.
A Brooks spokeswoman told the Globe that the incident with the student had recently been resolved to the satisfaction of the student. Yet the incident apparently happened more than 15 years ago. The school said the incident was dealt with at the time by the president of the board of trustees, who was publishing executive and two-time presidential candidate Steve Forbes. Forbes served as chairman of the school’s board from 1987 to 1997.
Brooks officials did not explain how Forbes addressed the situation. They said the incident was not reported to the full board of trustees at the time, nor was it referred to law enforcement or state agencies.
The Globe said school officials refused to disclose the gender of the student, while the Eagle-Tribune reported that the escorts used by Becker were male. The Eagle-Tribune also reported that Becker’s wife formerly taught French at Brooks.
BRUCE MOHL
Beacon Hill
Barney Frank says on a talk show that he would like to fill John Kerry’s Senate seat on an interim basis and has made his desire known to Gov. Deval Patrick, the New York Times reports.
State politicians are getting hit with another pay cut, the Globe reports.
In an editorial, the Lowell Sun examines the fiscal cliff that legislators in Massachusetts are facing.
US Attorney Carmen Ortiz won’t run for Senate or for governor.
A Canadian gambling company decides against bidding to open a slots parlor in Littleton. With two weeks to go until state gaming applications are due, the Plainridge Racecourse remains the only bidder for the state’s slot parlor license; MGM and Penn National, which are both chasing a Springfield casino, remain the only casino bidders thus far.
Municipal Matters
He’s baaack. Mayor Tom Menino holds court before a group of reporters and hints at a run this fall for a sixth term. Peter Gelzinis says the fog that hung over Menino in December has lifted.
After five hours and more than 200 votes, the Salem City Council remained deadlocked over who should be named to fill the council seat that was previously held by now-Sen. Joan Lovely, the Salem News reports.
National Politics/Washington
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner reportedly plans to step down from his post at the end of January.
Elections
Many states are targeting politically active nonprofits that fail to disclose their donors, Governing reports.
It’s all about the ground game: A round-up of the Brown-Warren campaign examines why Scott Brown failed miserably in Boston’s black and Latino communities.
Business/Economy
Tom Wolfe asks what happened to the Masters of the Universe — in Newsweek.
Five local chambers of commerce in Bristol County are banding together to try to promote tourism after the region’s lead tourism bureau lost out on funding and was cited by a state audit as a cauldron of fiscal mismanagement.
The state has awarded $6.8 million in grants to 87 companies for job creation and training.
The FTC drops its antitrust probe of Google.
An Atlantic cover story raises red flags about risk-taking at big banks.
Education
The principal of Saugus High School went to Florida before Christmas and apparently hasn’t returned, prompting lots of rumors. School officials aren’t commenting, the Lynn Item reports.
Massachusetts is set to become the last state to require federal background checks including fingerprint matching for all public and private school employees, including teachers.
The sudden closing of the Gloucester Community Arts Charter School has parents scrambling, the Gloucester Times reports.
Boston public school officials are scrambling to find more classroom space to accommodate the 1,000 additional younger students they anticipate enrolling next fall.
Religion
A new study has found support for school prayer has waned among Catholics and Protestants but remained strong with evangelicals.
Health care
Paul Levy directs his readers to an article in the muckraking site ProPublica about its use of social media for an investigation into patient harm.
An early season outbreak of severe flu has packed doctors’ offices and emergency rooms, including South Shore Hospital which has seen the biggest influx of emergency patients in nearly a decade.
Weston-based Biogen Idec has halted work on the drug treatment for ALS it had been developing.
Transportation
Call them the little engines that couldn’t: MBTA trains falter under the force of yesterday’s single-digit temperatures.
Gov. Deval Patrick tones down talk of a gas tax hike, WBUR reports.
With a new round of transportation reform on the horizon, the price tag to get the Berkshires transportation network alone up to “passable” standard will run close to $500 million.
Energy/Environment
New technology allows homeowners to see where heat is escaping from their homes, WBUR reports.
NPR reports that Congress’s extension of wind energy tax credits won’t lead to a lot of new projects because it was so last minute. CommonWealth examines how Cape Wind insulated itself from congressional gyrations on wind policy.
Criminal Justice
The Sun examines the heavy workload at Lowell District Court, where the line of people waiting to get in on Monday mornings can wind around the block.
A District Court judge denied a motion for a change of venue by two Rhode Island men accused of defacing several historic buildings in downtown New Bedford. The men claimed coverage of the incident by the Standard Times and comments from the mayor impaired their ability for a fair trial.
Three off-duty Newton police officers are caught egging the house of a Newton police sergeant.
Media
Dan Kennedy explores the demise of WTKK and what he believes is the ongoing collapse of corporate-owned radio. Former TKK host and conservative Herald columnist Michael Graham tells Emily Rooney that advertisers are increasingly uncomfortable with the “toxic” atmosphere of right-leaning talk radio.
Pulitzer-prize-winning movie critic Wesley Morris is leaving the Globe for the ESPN website Grantland, the Herald reports.
