Salem - The past year has been a tumultuous one for the school district.

A contentious budget process last spring, the resignation of two top administrators over the summer and the replacement of school board members earlier in the school year all roused tensions and distrust between the town, the school board and school faculty and staff.

But interim school leaders say they are not looking back, and are instead are moving forward with increased communication efforts in hopes of better addressing problems and alleviating tensions.

Since taking on their roles in October, interim Principal Michael Rafferty and interim Assistant Principal Joan Phillips have spearheaded such efforts, including conversations with parents before Board of Education and PTO meetings, and have been advocating for parents to follow the proper protocols for dealing with any issues that arise.

"What we try to do when we hear of issues is handle them at the level that they're supposed to be handled at," said Phillips, a longtime Salem School teacher, whose appointment was celebrated by both parents and town officials earlier in the school year.

"So many of these things should not be going to the Board of Ed," said Phillips. "That's not where they should be handled, particularly if it's a personnel (issue)."

Instead, said Rafferty, issues such as of bullying or disagreements about occurrences in the classroom should first be brought to teachers and then school administrators if necessary, leaving the Board of Education to handle school policy.

"The Board of Eduction's role is to make sure that policies are followed. Their primary person is the superintendent. We're employed as administrators by the superintendent," said Rafferty, a retired teacher with more than 45 years of experience as an educator and school administrator. "That's the protocol to have it work."

Rafferty and Phillips said that many of the tensions that have arisen in the past have been aggravated by a lack of communication and misunderstanding about where parents should bring up issues that they have with their children's education.

Rafferty and Phillips believe this breach of protocol may result in issues being mishandled or not addressed. They said it is important for parents to understand which group is responsible for handling what issues.

"Board of Education does policy, they are a state agency," said Phillips. "We (the administration) deal with (issues in the school) straight on. If there are issues, come to us, we can solve them."

Rafferty said that the meetings he has held before Board of Education meetings have allowed parents to engage in open, honest dialogue with administrators and teachers. In recent months, topics he has discussed with parents have ranged from issues with the amount and effectiveness of homework, access to extracurricular activities, bullying in school, and the roles of parents and children in the family, even taking actions like bringing a representative from the bus company to give a presentation addressing parents' frustrations about bus service.

Rafferty advocates for a parent's right to information, but asks parents to follow protocol and respect teachers and administrators.

"(This is) where you go first," said Rafferty. "If you don't like the answer or don't agree, then we would be happy to sit down with (both parent and teacher) to sort it out."

While both Rafferty and Phillips are eager to address current issues and any that may arise in the future, both have said they are not willing to criticize or debate past administrations.

"Right after I started in October, we had parents say 'well last year' and I say 'last year's gone,'" said Phillips. "If you have issues, comments, concerns starting from today on, I will take them, but I can't fix something that happened (in the past)."

j.hopper@theday.com

Twitter: @JessHoppa