LYNNFIELD — It’s been almost a year since schools in Massachusetts were closed because of the pandemic. Lynnfield Public Schools are pressing ahead toward a resumption of what it hopes will be a return to full-time in-person learning for all students.
“We want to thank the community for their continued adherence to all of the health and safety protocols over the past six weeks, which has led to a decline in positive cases,” School Superintendent Kristen Vogel said Friday in a statement to families. “We have been able to move toward more in-person learning for our grade K, 1 and 2 students. With the governor’s and commissioner’s announcement earlier this week, we are actively planning with our teachers to develop a plan for the full return of all of our students in the very near future. Once we have agreed to this plan with our teachers in the next week, we will share the timeline and details.”
School Committee Chair Jamie Hayman spoke up earlier this week, accusing some parents of being “willfully misinformed” and spreading “blatant lies.”
Hayman opened the committee’s most recent meeting saying, “there is a great deal of misinformation that has been disseminated since our last meeting.”
He went on to state that, since last March, former School Superintendent Jane Tremblay, successor Vogel, the district’s entire administrative leadership team, and the School Committee have “spent thousands of hours making sure this community was up to speed on plans moving forward and, while it may not have been perfect, based on feedback from the community and input from neighboring towns, I can say with certainty that this educational leadership team has done an exceptional job getting our schools open, keeping our kids and educators safe, and addressing COVID outbreaks on a case by case basis.”
He called out members of the community, for “(making) up tales about lack of transparency,” stating that anyone with concerns about the decisions that have been made should “speak with school leaders.
“You may be surprised to learn of all of the ideas that were vetted and unfortunately not feasible,” Hayman said.
Hayman also said there appears to be some confusion about the decision to bring kindergarteners back for full-time in-person learning starting March 1.
“This plan was weeks in the making, and to imply that parents complaining on a Tuesday caused the plan to be created on a Wednesday and released on a Friday, is patently false, and incredibly disrespectful to our educators who are working so hard for your kids.”
Hayman went on to say that Lynnfield’s teachers, administrators, and staff “are doing an amazing job for our families” in spite of working under challenging and unprecedented conditions “to keep this district moving forward.
“Yet, in spite of all this hard work, there appears to be a small group in our community looking to undermine the efforts of this committee, our district leaders, our teachers and support personnel out of frustration, uncertainty, and some cases out of vengeance, and in a few cases, for personal gain.
“We empathize with the struggle of each family,” he said. “But unlike other families in this community, the five of us (on the School Committee) are responsible for the health and safety of the nearly 2,800 students and staff members.”
Hayman said he encourages parents to step back and assess their comments and actions over the past year, adding that, at last week’s committee meeting, he “made a comment that was interpreted unintentionally calling into question the town’s response to COVID as it relates to Lynnfield Public Schools.”
Hayman said he has reached out to and spoken with Select Board members and Town Administrator Rob Dolan.
“I want to make it very clear that when it comes to the town’s response to COVID as it relates to the schools, the town and the Emergency Management Team has been unbelievably supportive and great.
“Disappointment, frustration, anxiety are acceptable emotions, striking out because of personal and professional disappointment serves no purpose in educating our students,” Hayman said. “But if you want to use town resources to fuel your theories because you are uninformed, tired of COVID, and only started paying attention after 11 months, please stop. None of us like COVID. Hopefully, I will not have to continue to clarify misinformation and call out blatant lies, at future School Committee meetings.”
