LYNNFIELD– The School Committee voted Thursday to extend the contract of Superintendent Tom Geary through June 30, 2029. The extension is effective as of July 1, 2025.
The contract states that Geary’s annual salary is $222,360, an increase of 2% over his previous year’s salary, which is also effective as of July 1, 2025. The contract also states that “changes to Mr. Geary’s salary shall be annually determined by the school committee and based on his performance during the preceding year. In no event, however, will Mr. Geary’s salary as Superintendent for any employment year after July 1, 2025, be less than $222,360.”
The vote carried by a 3-2 margin. Committee Chair Kristen Elworthy and members Kate DePrizio and Jim Dillon voted yes, while committee members Jamie Hayman and Kim Baker Donahue voted no.
“As I said the other night, I just feel that I don’t have enough information right now to support that, so I just wanted to pre-emptively say,” Donahue said.
“I don’t agree with this,” Hayman said. “I think there are a number of people in the community who have expressed concerns, and my ask of you is, make me wrong. … And I will be the first to come and admit that I made a mistake. For the sake of our 2,200 students, I want to be wrong and I need to be wrong.”
“I will just add that I appreciate the work that you’ve done in the past year. I feel great about bringing you on for a secure amount of time where you can do some strategic planning,” committee Chair Kristen Elworthy said. “And thanks for all your work you’ve done this year, and the team that you have brought in as well.”
“I just wanted to say thank you as well for this year,” committee member Kate DePrizio said. “I really do look forward to the strategic planning and am grateful to have you on board for the next four years.”
Geary thanked the committee for the opportunity.
“Like you said, I am sure there are people who are thrilled about this, maybe there are some who aren’t,” Geary said. “My goal is just to work to bring everyone together, but mostly, the work is about the kids, and that’s what I really would like this whole group, including myself, to focus on going forward.”
Then-interim superintendent Geary was appointed as the permanent superintendent of schools on July 10, 2024. He had previously served as the finance director and assistant superintendent of finance and operations. His original contract as superintendent ran from July 23 through June 30, 2028. Geary’s salary was $218,000 per year through June 30, 2025. The contract also stated that if “Geary not be renewed as superintendent and remains an employee of the Lynnfield Public Schools as Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations, he shall be paid an annual salary of $188,000 commencing as of July 1, 2026 … through June 30, 2027.”
In the weeks leading up to Thursday’s meeting, some residents had spoken publicly at meetings, asking the committee to conduct a search before making any decisions regarding an extension. Other residents have spoken up at meetings stating their support for Geary.
A group calling itself Lynnfield for Leadership took out multiple advertisements in the Lynnfield Weekly News asking residents to sign a petition on ipetitions.com calling for a superintendent search. They would not identify themselves.
