LYNNFIELD — Out of all the issues raised by parents during the town’s School Committee meeting, the loudest one came directly from the audience, asking Superintendent Kristen Vogel to “look up.”
Parents and community members gathered Tuesday evening to express their disappointment and frustration with the School Committee’s handling of multiple issues, including budgeting and hiring.
“I am perplexed by the lack of transparency this board provides when it comes to the school budget,” long-time Lynnfield resident Ellen Crawford said. “We as taxpayers are asked at each Town Meeting to accept the budget we have, yet we have no idea how or where our money is being spent.”
A week ago, Melissa Wyland, principal of Huckleberry Hill Elementary School, submitted her resignation to the superintendent and School Committee, saying this would be her last year as principal. The superintendent and her administrative staff were provided an 11% midcycle raise — a decision announced in September but voted upon by the committee in June. According to the committee, the raise was approved to help retain the superintendent in a non-lucrative hiring market.
Crawford questioned the committee why the same policy was not implemented when multiple Lynnfield Public Schools’ teachers either lost their jobs or quit.
“Do you feel the same way about the 18 experienced and dedicated teachers whose jobs were either cut or who left because they could no longer work for this administration,” Crawford asked.
Two weeks ago, the Lynnfield Teachers’ Association, led by LTA President Alexandria Cellucci, sent a letter to the School Committee and superintendent voicing similar concerns. Vogel addressed the letter in the meeting and said that the staff had received an email Tuesday morning acknowledging the challenges faced by LPS faculty and staff. School Committee Chair Rich Sjoberg reiterated this at the beginning of the meeting.
“We want you to know that we recognize, see, and hear how challenging this year has been for all of you,” Vogel said in the email. “We are pausing leadership team walkthroughs of classrooms until February as they can feel intrusive and distracting for you and your students. We also plan on bringing you some joy over the next few months.”
Similarly, LPS parents sent 40 emails to the committee voicing their displeasure with the superintendent and concerns about low teacher morale at the schools. The School Committee responded to all the parents with a blanket email stating that the committee and the superintendent are working with the teachers “to ensure that they feel supported and have the resources that they need.”
Parents and community members, however, were not happy with the response — something they expressed multiple times during the meeting. Lynnfield resident Mark Vitagliano said that the email was a “generic cut and paste response” and that the committee was dismissive of the issues. He said Kate DePrizio was the only committee member who acknowledged their concerns.
Last week, DePrizio addressed the emails, resignations, and the LTA letter in a lengthy Facebook post.
“We have had 6 Assistant Principals/Principals leave or try to leave during Superintendent Vogel’s tenure,” DePrizio wrote in the post. “While it is possible to discount or explain 1 or 2, 6 is a trend. Much like in our community, I believe that we have created a staff culture of ‘compliance.’ What is being portrayed as staff satisfaction within our buildings is actually compliance. As leaders and role models who together agree with our district values, this is lacking and unacceptable. To speak out, rock the boat, to advocate for needs is often deemed “insubordinate” and unfortunately, the character of staff members is often maligned when they do speak up.”
DePrizio further said that the community is treated similarly regarding School Committee meetings. “Often the community is met with a one-way conversation,” DePrizio said in her post. “There is a lack of empathy or validation, and there is a dismissive response.”
At the end of the allotted public speaking time during the meeting, town resident and parent Kristen Elworthy questioned the members as to why the speaking time was “only 15 minutes” when the committee knew there would be a large audience attending the meeting.
“All of us left work early,” Elworthy said. “I appreciate the committee putting out a statement at the beginning of the meeting, but why did it have to take people to get so upset for you to respond? As a parent and former journalist, it bothers me that the teachers feel uncomfortable talking about the issues they’re facing.”
As Elworthy neared her three-minute speaking time, she requested Vogel to “look up” when she addressed her and the committee. Vogel, who had been taking notes throughout the public speaking segment of the meeting, gave in when the audience vocally supported Elworthy’s demand.
“I don’t want to weigh in on everything that our kids are doing,” Elworthy said. “That’s not my business. But when the teachers are weighing in on it, I sit up and listen. We trust them when they say something’s wrong. And something is wrong.”
