LYNN – As the 2024-2025 school year comes to an end, the Lynn School Committee reflected on the overall progress of Lynn Public Schools with a yearly evaluation of the District Strategic Plan, and discussed the implications of a statewide cellphone ban for next year.
The Committee opened on the matter of the district’s alignment with Sen. Brendan Crighton’s proposed statewide cellphone ban in schools.
“The proposal would eliminate the inconsistencies across schools,” Mayor Jared C. Nicholson said, in discussions on alignment with the state on the issue.
Superintendent Dr. Evonne S. Alvarez expressed her preference for a more “moderate” approach; the possibility for educating students on the appropriate use of cellphones, without policing a complete ban, as the state bill would recommend as a model policy.
Committee member Sean Reid noted the distraction that cellphones present to children. School, he said, “is really the only space where we can force kids not to have their phones.”
“That’s real life,” said Committee member Lorraine Gately, approving the ban. “That’s training students for real life.”
The Committee unanimously approved the cellphone policy, on the condition of the organization of a parent public forum for discussion on the policy change.
In a larger concluding comment, Alvarez said that “this was a year of unprecedented academic growth for Lynn Public Schools,” referring to the preliminary data available to the Committee.
The District Strategic Plan 2024-2029 was implemented, its first year, on a combination of goals: maintaining diverse and qualified educators, assuring a solid instructional core and strategizing for inclusion.
Dr. Jennifer Shorter, the Executive Director of Data for Lynn Public Schools, explained how these elements should overlap in order to be “more cohesive and coherent as a district.”
The aim of the multi-year strategic plan is to identify long-term intended goals, and to “create increments each year to meet them,” Alvarez explained.
Priority number one is improving outcomes for students.
Among tangible results this year, test scores are up, pushing the district on track to rapid progression in the MCAS student growth percentile, from 277th to 256th in the state.
Another significant leap for the community: language proficiency boomed.
“We blew way past the goal,” Dr. Alvarez said, as English learners’ competence levels rose from 32% to 41%.
The district expanded equitable access to more advanced coursework. PSAT participation rose from 39.6% to 54% and AP course enrollment increased from 2.8% to 7.9%.
“While we are proud of this progress, we also recognize that we have significant work ahead to ensure that all students have access to the full range of rigorous coursework necessary for college and career readiness,” Alvarez said.
Work, she assured, which will continue in September, at the start of yet another year of “growth, opportunity, and progress.”
