Michael Stefanilo News Today

LOWELL — One Lowell Public Schools superintendent, two city solicitors, three high-level city attorneys, more than a dozen City Council and School Committee meetings and almost $100,000 later, the yearlong and much-hyped outside investigation into allegations of unfair or unlawful hiring practices in the district plods on.

LOWELL — The law firm hired to conduct an independent investigation into allegations of unfair or unlawful hiring practices in the Lowell Public Schools both provided to and received from the School Committee some clarifying guidance on the process at its Wednesday meeting.

LOWELL — Numerous and persistent technical difficulties dogged Thursday’s special School Committee meeting held remotely via Zoom, but the body managed to move forward on issues related to the independent investigation into allegations of unfair or unlawful hiring practices in the district.

LOWELL — The Human Resources and Labor Relations Subcommittee of the School Committee met with the outside counsel of Brody, Hardoon, Perkins & Kesten on Wednesday, a development that the first public complainant against the school district’s hiring practices called “hopeful.”

Sgt. Elder Fernandes, 23, was found dead about 30 miles from the base in Temple, Texas, on Aug. 25, 2020. His family says he did not receive adequate mental health care at the base hospital in the week before he died by suicide.

Sgt. Elder Fernandes, 23, was reported missing on Aug. 19, 2020. His body was found less than a week later, and his death was ruled a suicide.

The family of a Massachusetts soldier who was found dead about 30 miles from Fort Hood in Texas in 2020 has filed a malpractice claim worth $25 million against the U.S. Army.