ITEM PHOTO BY OWEN O’ROURKE
Susie Cleary
BY GAYLA CAWLEY
LYNNFIELD — School Committee Chair Susie Cleary will not be seeking another term, as she has decided to spend more time with her three children.
Cleary would have been running for her third term. She has served two consecutive three-year terms on the school committee.
“It took me awhile to decide,” Cleary said. “I finally just made the decision a few weeks ago. I made the decision with a heavy heart. I really enjoyed being on the school committee.”
Cleary said her decision was based on a “time-management issue on my end.”
“My kids are older,” Cleary said. “I have a job during the day. When I first ran, I was a stay-at-home mom. My evening hours were flexible. My circumstances have changed. I don’t have as much flexibility as I once did.”
Cleary said she works for an Information Technology (IT) company during the day as an IT project manager. With working during the day, she said she would be doing most of her work for the school committee at night. Now, she said her children have their games at night and more evening activities that she has been missing.
“I need to prioritize my kids at this point,” Cleary said.
School Committee member Dorothy Presser is also up for re-election. She has returned her papers and they have been certified. Richard Sjoberg, who would be a new member of the committee, has also returned his papers and they have been certified, according to the Town Clerk’s office.
Monday was the last day to return papers for the Town Election on April 11. According to the Town Clerk’s office, no other candidates pulled papers for the two school committee seats. Cleary spoke highly of Presser and Sjoberg.
“Dorothy is a huge benefit to the school committee,” Cleary said. “Her knowledge base is just incredible. She’s invaluable to the committee.”
Cleary said she has not met Sjoberg, but has “heard great things about him.”
“I think he will be a great addition to the school committee,” Cleary said.
Through her time with the school committee, Cleary said there have been multiple superintendent searches and hires. The current superintendent is Jane Tremblay, who she said “has schools on the right track.” She said Tremblay has a long-term plan for Lynnfield Public Schools.
“I look forward to seeing her plug through her strategy from year to year [and] bring that to fruition,” Cleary said.
Cleary said she has “learned so much” and “met so many wonderful people” during her time on the school committee. She said she has seen how hard the school administrators work, which has been “invaluable with my confidence in the schools.”
“Lynnfield schools are in a great place and only getting better,” Cleary said.
Gayla Cawley can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @GaylaCawley.