LYNNFIELD – Lynnfield School Committee Chair Kirsten Elworthy opened discussions over the potential renewal of Superintendent Thomas Geary’s contract.
“Tom has stepped up for our district, and he deserves some certainty about where we are going next,” said Chair Kristen Elworthy in her opening remarks, expressing support for Superintendent Geary’s continuation in the position.
Committee members in favor of the pursuit of Geary’s contract argued that he has effectively responded to the concerns of the community since his appointment in July 2024.
“He has been doing the job. His actions speak louder than any words,” said Vice Chair Jim Dillon, mentioning the support of teachers with over 30 years of experience in the classroom for the Superintendent.
“He dove in head first as the dust of the most tumultuous years in our district had not yet settled,” added Committee member Kate DePrizio. “We can’t lose him.”
DePrizio continued to describe his chats with community members and fist bumps on the soccer fields; a guarantee, she claimed, of the humanity with which he approaches his work toward the community.
Arguments for opposition to the renewal of his contract include the idea that Geary has not spent sufficient time in a classroom, nor was he appointed following due process, but through a procedure internal to the committee.
Committee member Jamie Hayman called the discussion of the renewal of Geary’s contract a “big incomplete,” arguing that he and the community lacked notions of Geary’s values in the position.
A community member spoke up with her criticism on the alleged lack of due process in the appointment of Geary last July.
“Superintendent Geary was appointed silently; our trust is broken,” she said. “It didn’t end well for Nixon, and it won’t end up well for him.”
A remark to which Elworthy retorted that, to her, it seemed all talk and little action.
Elworthy concluded the discussion and pushed her support for Geary. She argued that without Geary’s efforts, the district would have faced serious budget cuts and, hence, considerable restraint.
“The priority was always on what’s best for the students,” Elworthy said.
She added that the founding of an effective educational strategy would require more than a year.
“We are killing that time,” Elworthy concluded. “I have the data and information I need to make the decision now. There is a cost to waiting.”
The school committee must inform Geary if they are renewing his contract by Oct. 1, Elworthy said.
On June 6, town employees were overheard using racist language during the Lynnfield graduation ceremony.
School Committee member Kim Donahue used the incident as an example of what has not been accomplished since the committee’s last meeting.
Wendy Dixon, a school nurse in Lynnfield who has been pushing for diversity in schools for ten years, spoke up with her son, Joseph, during the meeting.
Their message to the community: Lynnfield kids from all backgrounds should feel that they can and will achieve excellence; a feeling, Dixon says, which is not sufficiently spreading in the community.
“I feel like a broken record,” she said before the committee. “It feels like not much is being done in schools and in town.”
Adeline Thomas, a Lynnfield mother, speaks up about her daughter’s blatant encounter with racism at school.
“I think we need to heal the divide,” she said, in reference to the ongoing debates over Geary’s nomination as Superintendent.
Thomas believes that the community simply needs to hear Geary’s clear intentions with regards to such issues as diversity and racism in schools. That, according to her, is where Geary fell short.
Facing Dixon’s and Thomas’ concerns as members of the community, Hayman reacted. He took the floor to assure that although the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) program remains a hotbed topic, it was crucial to continue and pursue the baby steps.
“Without that, our humanity is lost,” DePrizio concluded.
