Lynnfield — Three women hope to find a seat on the town’s School Committee this coming April: Kim Baker Donahue, Kristen Elworthy, and Jenny Sheehan.
Kim Baker Donahue
With two sons, a niece, and a nephew at each level in the Lynnfield Public School system, lifelong resident Kim Baker Donahue knows that for the School Committee to meet the needs of every family at each school, it will take passion, collaboration, and respect.
“We have 2,400 families in this town, 2,000 students, and everybody’s needs are different. It’s important to foster the different opinions and the different skill sets and utilize them to the best of our ability,” Donahue said. “It’s important to be able to bring your opinions to the table, but also be willing to hear other people’s opinions.”
As a practicing estate lawyer and having held positions in volunteer organizations such as serving on the Lynnfield Little League Board of Directors and president of the North Suburban Jewish Community Center, Donahue is more than used to being on a team.
If elected to the School Committee, she plans to bring those past experiences with her to work towards a harmonious balance between teachers, staff, and families. Donahue hopes that through transparent collaboration, she will build a community-wide consensus, particularly on crucial issues like fiscal responsibilities.
“It’s critical that everybody feels heard, everybody has an opportunity to express concerns and needs, and then to be responded to in any way, regardless of whether it’s what they want to hear or not,” Donahue said. “It’s important to be able to speak to people where, as I always say ‘it’s not what you say, it’s how you say it.’ It’s knowing how to address people in a way that’s going to make them feel respected, heard, and treated fairly.”
Being no stranger to balancing the needs of an organization, she understands how meeting each individual where they are is crucial to making everyone feel heard and respected, ensuring that each teacher and each family in the district is getting their time to discuss the matters that are important to their lives.
“I ran last year, and I was passionate about and invested in the current state of our school system and its future then, and that desire really has not changed. In fact, it’s probably just become stronger,” Donahue said. “Change happens when there is consensus, so I think it’s important to really harness everybody’s differing opinions… be an active listener, be respectful and receptive to feedback, that’s who I am.”
Kristen Elworthy
After only a year-long first term, Kristen Elworthy, the parent of three students in Lynnfield Public Schools, wants to continue the progress she has made with the School Committee for another term.
“I feel like I’m in the middle of a lot of great changes, and I feel like since this time last year, the district is on a great upward trajectory,” she said. “I want to really continue with that, and I’ve really enjoyed the work. I think that the School Committee as a whole has been able to make some really positive impacts. I want to continue to see that through for the next three years.”
Some of the School Committee’s achievements Elworthy, who was elected as committee chair this past September, can take particular pride in include creating a technology plan that will sustain itself through the foreseeable future and successfully putting in place a new cell phone policy.
“I’m really looking forward to continuing to take a look at the end of this year, reassessing and being part of what that plan will look like moving forward and whether that policy will change,” Elworthy said. “I think the school committee is really holding our administrators accountable for meeting some of those goals in their buildings, and making sure that we’re maximizing what we can do with the folks that we have. We have a really great district.”
The results back up this characterization of Lynnfield’s schools, with multiple Ivy League acceptances already this year and some of the highest math scores in the state for fourth graders.
In Elworthy’s view, a successfully operated district with these types of results starts at the top with the culture and trust that the school committee, along with the superintendent, builds with the staff and teachers.
“Having that high level of teacher morale, having them have faith and trust in the leadership that they have, that is really key. We want to keep these teachers. We have a fantastic staff, and you can feel it when you walk through Lynnfield,” she said.
To that end, Elworthy wants to continue building a budget and negotiating teacher contracts in a way that is transparent and understandable for everyone involved. That includes implementing coffee meetings with staff, where teachers can have their voices heard.
“I think what happened last year was the school committee members themselves had no idea what was going on with the teachers. And we don’t ever want to be in that position,” Elworthy said. “It’s been a very rewarding experience, and you can see the impact of our work.”
Jenny Sheehan
Similar to Elworthy, Jenny Sheehan’s time on the Lynnfield School Committee has been brief, but still full of change and growth. To continue the work she’s done in her one-year term, the local business owner and mom of three students is looking to get re-elected this April.
Sheehan’s experience prior to her election last year includes serving as Director of Community Relations for the Summer Street School’s PTO board and serving as president of the Bethlehem Pre-School PTO, roles she continues to fill today. She got involved with the School Committee while advocating for smaller kindergarten classroom sizes in 2023.
As a member of the policy subcommittee, Sheehan was instrumental in drafting up the new smartphone and smartwatch policy for the district, a change she says has already led to positive change at every level.
“As I read the headlines around the state and nation, I am proud to see that Lynnfield Public Schools has been a trailblazer in our cell phone policy – taking a strong stance in support of our youth’s mental health needs, and paving the way for other districts who are now following our lead,” she said. “The positive results of this work are what I am most proud to be a part of on the committee, and also the reason why I am running for re-election.”
Other policy achievements she contributed to during this past year was a dress code policy that both teachers and students agreed on would improve school culture and lowering class sizes for the youngest learners in the school.
“We’ve established new ways of communicating with coffee hours, staff feedback forums, streamlining access to district information on social media, and encouraging engagement with all stakeholders,” she said. “Part of our collaborative process involved meeting extensively with teachers and administrators to identify policies they believed were needed to achieve the highest level of academic success”
Something Sheehan also wants to emphasize is the importance of a school committee member having complete transparency when it comes to processes like constructing the budget. Steps like this work towards ensuring that the Lynnfield Public Schools operate in a culture where everyone, from families to staff, are on the same page.
“In recent years, we’ve witnessed difficult choices, and even harder cuts each year during the budget cycle. Every level from elementary to high school has felt the results and I believe it’s time we break this cycle,” Sheehan said. “We are now in a position where we need to decide as a town what type of district we want to be. I believe we can balance fiscal responsibility while achieving the highest levels of academic standards for all students, K-12.”
If re-elected, Sheehan plans to continue having open conversations and collaborating with the schools in the district to achieve these goals. In her view, the Lynnfield School Committee has high standards to meet, standards which she expects to hit through hard work.
“Over the past year, the School Committee has been laser focused on supporting our staff and students with an emphasis on teaching and learning,” Sheehan said. “I moved to Lynnfield for our excellent school system, and as a member of the school committee I’m honored to be a part of that great tradition, while also working to push us to even greater heights.”
