LYNN — Voters will go to the polls to choose the city’s six elected School Committee members on Tuesday.
12 candidates are jockeying for votes on the ballot, which for the first time in two decades will not feature Donna Coppola, who is running against Natasha Megie-Maddrey for Ward 4 city councilor.
However, the other five incumbents are again on the ballot.
Tiffany Magnolia is one of them.
Magnolia said her major accomplishment has been ensuring that the experiences of parents are taken into consideration when making policy and procedural decisions within the school system. She added that while on the committee, the department hired a new superintendent with a vision and experience, updated old policies, and made sure that students are not discriminated against because of their gender or language.
She said if she is re-elected, her top three priorities are increasing parents’ engagement with schools, increasing “enrichment” opportunities for Lynn Public Schools students, and recruiting and retaining teachers in order to fully staff schools, something she said would mean budgeting teachers’ salaries to match the important role they play in the community.
Eric Dugan, also an incumbent, said he is proud of his work as chair of the Policy Subcommittee, in which he updated the “somewhat antiquated” School Committee policy manual, and the passage of budgets with a strong emphasis on bolstering student experience.
Dugan said his priorities going forward are school safety, teacher recruitment and retention, and student engagement in the arts. He said many of his priorities have already been reflected in the School Committee budget and that the Student Opportunity Act has allowed the committee to emphasize items that, in the past, it could not.
Incumbent Lorraine Gately said her major accomplishment was her work as chair of the Buildings and Grounds Subcommittee, in which she pushed for a new Pickering Middle School by 2026. She also described addressing overcrowding and supporting opportunity-rich solutions like the Frederick Douglass Collegiate Academy as accomplishments, along with her advocacy for fair teacher contracts, safe parking, and revised high-school schedules.
Gately also said the upkeep of older schools is very important, and that she will fight to speed schools through the Massachusetts School Building Authority pipeline.
She added that strong fiscal management and aggressive state and federal grant writing would be important to addressing her priorities of school safety and effective teaching, which she said include extended day programs.
Lenny Pen͂a is another incumbent who touted the contract for teachers, paraprofessionals, and staff as a major accomplishment, along with his role on the Superintendent Search Screening Committee that eventually hired the first Hispanic LPS superintendent, Evonne Alvarez.
Pen͂a said he would continue to advocate for stronger diversity, equity, and inclusion in the department, increased student safety, and an emphasis on buildings and grounds. He said his priorities would be accomplished by advocating for more funding from the state for local space for leasing to help with overcrowding while new schools are built.
Another incumbent is Brian Castellanos, who said his major accomplishments on the committee have been advocating for improving the district’s Social Emotional Learning capacity to put an emphasis on students’ mental health. He added he was also proud of the creation of the Dream More program at Thurgood Marshall Middle School.
He said his main priorities are continued investment in SEL, teacher and personnel retention, and continued support for the new Pickering Middle School. Castellanos said he would fund these with sustainable sources, like grant funding.
The five incumbents are joined by seven candidates looking for a chance to join the committee, including Sean Reid.
Reid said he is running to bring a new generation of leadership to the schools, and that education is important to him “as a former LPS student, as the husband of an LPS teacher, and as someone who is going to raise his future family here.”
According to Reid, his top priorities are modernizing the city’s schools without burdening taxpayers, creating safe and inclusive school environments, and retaining school educators and staff.
He said pushing for reforms to the MSBA school-construction formula would make it more equitable and bring in more money to build new schools in the city. He added that he would use his knowledge of state government to secure more state funding for LPS projects and programs.
Daniel Richard, who has four kids in the school system, said he is running to offer solutions to the issues schools already face.
Richard said his top priorities are expanding special-needs and financial-literacy programs, and providing more support for ESL students. He said they would be paid for by advocating to city officials and the state delegation, and by opening up new pipelines to resources in the city while building on the ones the district already has.
Andrea Satterwhite said she is running for her children and because of her knowledge of the LPS system, both as a former student and school nurse.
Satterwhite said her top priorities on the committee would be safety, structural deficits, and community partnerships. She added other priorities would be fostering educator retention and adding potential certificate programs, as well as advocacy for special-needs students.
According to Satterwhite, she would bring a skeptical approach to proposed budgets to ensure money spent has a positive impact on students. She also said she would work closely with other members to ensure that any future administrative positions lead to positive impacts on and outcomes for the district.
Sandra Lopez said part of her focus would be on parental involvement in schools. She added it is important to her to “help families to have independence in raising their children.”
Lopez also said it is important for school programming to include opportunities for students to be active in “various sports, artistic arts, manual and science workshops.” She added that it is also important to assist families with “disabled children and special children.”
Judith Wilson said she is running to “take into account the legitimate concerns of parents and local students,” as well as to push for more academic success.
Wilson said one of her top priorities is to ensure all schools have safe infrastructure that is structurally sound with proper maintenance to contribute to a “positive learning environment.”
She added that it is also important to her to develop more opportunities for the engagement of students and parents outside of the classrooms, and to address bullying.
Wilson said her priorities would be paid for using “funding from our local city-state capacity building grant, the federal government, and businesses for financial resources to assist with the cost on a long-term basis.”
Stacy Bryant-Brown said she is running for “schools to be what they are intended for, which are spaces for our children to learn and enjoy social bonding healthily.”
Bryant-Brown said her priorities are school safety, giving students and staff more of a voice in decision-making, and improving school facilities.
According to Bryant-Brown, it is important to refine the district’s approach to paying for safety, as well as its relationship with the Police Department.
Walquiria Leguisamon said that she is running for School Committee to promote excellence in education within the city’s schools and to push for transparency and accountability.
Leguisamon said one of her priorities is to bring parents to the table with the creation of a parent advisory committee for “fostering collaboration between schools and families.” She said she would also look to have more two-way communication between teachers and parents, and look for ways the district can address overcrowding.
Leguisamon said she would pay for her priorities with “collective collaboration of the whole school district body, the structure is already in place. I believe it’s a matter of time investment, organization, goodwill and transparency.”
Election day, when voters will choose between the 12 School Committee candidates, is Nov. 7.
