LYNN — A breach of protocol when tackling the problem of teacher parking in the neighborhood of the Shoemaker School helped exacerbate tensions rearding the issue, School Committee woman Lorraine Gately says.
The problem was brought to the attention of newly-elected Ward 1 Councilor Dr. Peter Meaney in January, right after he took office.
“It’s been an issue for quite a long time,” Meaney said. “Fortunately, unfortunately, the school has increased in size over time, and it’s kind of outgrown its community.”
But Gately, who is also Building and Grounds Chair, said she’s typically the first person people call when there is an issue regarding parking at the schools, yet didn’t hear about the supposed problem until the issue became exacerbated.
“(Meaney) was under a lot of assumption that he had more jurisdiction over the teachers parking than he does,” Gately said.
On Jan. 30, in response to the complaints heard by Meaney, he held a closed door meeting with the school’s interim principal and Deputy Superintendent Kimberlee Powers.
Shortly after that, the Lynn Teachers Union (LTU), was informed about things that might have been said in the meeting and its members were not pleased.
A letter from the LTU to all teachers states, “Councilor Meaney was less than collaborative during this meeting and made veiled threats about the cars of our school staff being, ‘moved one way or another.’”
The letter continues: “Later that evening at the State of the City Address, Councilor Meaney was overheard by several citizens of Lynn making disparaging comments about teacher(s); ‘hurling expletives about LTU members.’”
When asked about the alleged statements made by him both in the meeting and at the State of the City Address, Meaney did not want to comment. But he said that the LTU’s letter sent was, “largely sensationalized.”
“The person who wrote the email was not at the State of the City, nor was she in that meeting. So, it’s really unfortunate the way that I, it, came out the way it did,” Meaney said.
In an effort to resolve both the alleged parking problem and the anger of the LTU, another closed-door meeting was held Feb. 27. Attendees included Meaney, Powers, Gately, City Parking Director Jessica Chiappini, and City Policy Director Danya Smith.
Gately said the main issue about the entire situation is that Meaney is new and didn’t contact the right people for the issue.
“I don’t think (Meaney) did his research, I just think he went by hearsay by (his) constituents,” Gately said.
At the Feb. 27 meeting, Gately said Meaney was informed of the chain of command when it came to parking issues, so he was aware of who could be of help if another situation arose.
“This would never have happened,” Gately said about the teachers’ anger if Meaney would have reached out to her first. “I told (Meaney) and I told everybody in (the meeting) how hard we’ve been working with neighbors, how every single teacher has a placard that hangs on their rearview mirror, so that they don’t get ticketed.”
It was also discovered in the meeting that the issue residents have at the school is with parent pick-up and drop-off and has nothing to do with teachers parking in the residential area.
“It’s one thing to investigate before you attack, but (Meaney) sort of, (was) just going off of hearsay, attacked, and now is backtracking to figure out the best way,” Gately said. “(Meaney) found out, it wasn’t the teachers that are really causing the disruption. The disruption, just like every school in the whole district, is prior to school and after school when parents drop off and pick up the students.”
After the revelation that it was traffic, and not parking, that was causing issues, those that attended the meeting came up with a possible solution.
“The principal and the program specialist will be out helping people get their kids in the building … we’re going to have someone from the parking department out there to move people along so they’re not double parking and blocking … holding up traffic,” Gately said.
As far as teacher parking is concerned, Gately said that teachers will continue to use the placard to avoid ticketing, and her and her constituents are constantly working on ways to ease the issue of parking near schools.
“Throughout the city, we’ve been working on this problem to the best of our abilities,” Gately said. “Everybody who works in city hall has a parking space. Every teacher in the Lynn Public Schools should be entitled to a parking space. Because, they too work for the city and that’s our goal. That’s what we’ve been working on.”
