By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — Kate DePrizio was appointed as the School Committee’s new chair and Jamie Hayman was appointed as vice chair during a Jan. 2 emergency meeting.
The School Committee was forced to elect two new leaders due to the surprising resignations of former Chair Rich Sjoberg and Vice Chair Stacy Dahlstedt on Dec. 29.
School Committee member Jamie Hayman said he was unable to serve as chair once again due to family and work commitments. He previously served as the school board’s chair from April 2018 through April 2021.
“I have been chair during a crisis,” said Hayman. “I learned a lot from it. The biggest thing that I learned is it is a lot of time. It is a lot of time responding to people and getting back to people quickly. We have got a lot of stuff going on right now between the budget coming up, and we have to figure out what is going on with the superintendent and the continuity of leadership. We are going to have collective bargaining next year. Thinking about all of that, I do not have the capacity to do that because it’s just too much. It’s not fair to my family, it’s not fair to my job and it’s not fair to the town. As much as I would love to be able to do it, the timing is not right. As we think about this, I would like to take my name off the table as a potential chair for right now.”
School Committeeman Phil McQueen announced during the meeting that he is not running for a third three-year term in the Town Election. In addition to wanting to spend more time with his family, the Lynn Classical English department head also said he has a lot going on at work in the wake of two students tragically losing their lives to gun violence over the holidays.
“I am not seeking re-election in the spring,” said McQueen. “I don’t think that me being in a chair or vice chair position would be particularly good for consistency of leadership. I have a lot going on at work right now within my school community with everything that transpired over the holidays. I don’t think I can give the job the time that it needs.”
Hayman asked DePrizio if she would be interested in serving as the School Committee’s next chair.
“How is your time situation?” he inquired.
While DePrizio said her “time situation is also pretty crunched,” she was open to serving as chair. She immediately asked Hayman if he would be interested in serving as the School Committee’s vice chair.
“I am happy to lend whatever I am needed to do, just not in a chair capacity,” said Hayman in response. “I will do whatever we need to do to move this forward. Hopefully we will be in a position where we are playing with a full deck in a few weeks.”
DePrizio agreed.
“It will be lovely to play with a full deck,” said DePrizio. “In the interim of playing with a full deck, I think we have to be extremely collaborative and supportive of one another. If we need to delegate if we have an influx of emails or something like that, will we all be onboard with participating?”
McQueen and Hayman both said yes.
Hayman nominated DePrizio to serve as the School Committee’s chair, which was seconded by McQueen. The motion passed 3-0 in a roll call vote.
DePrizio nominated Hayman to serve as the school board’s vice chair, which was seconded by McQueen. The motion was also approved in a 3-0 roll call vote.
Geary said the School Committee had to send a letter of notification to the Select Board about the two vacant seats.
“We will request a joint meeting with the Select Board to vote on these replacements,” said Geary. “The Select Board will then arrange a meeting date that is mutually acceptable with the School Committee.”
As required by state law and the Town Charter, Geary said both boards will appoint two residents to fill the vacant seats until the Town Election on April 9.
Letters of interest and resumes can be sent to Assistant Town Administrator Robert Curtin at rcurtin@town.lynnfield.ma.us by noon on Friday, Jan. 19. All applications will be shared with members of both boards, and candidates will be notified of the date of the joint meeting at which the interviews and appointments will take place.
“This is the first step in replacing the two members,” said Geary.
McQueen asked how long will the two replacements serve on the School Committee.
“Once the two replacements are named, those two people will be in their positions through the April Town Election,” said Geary. “During that time, there will be two seats open for three years and two seats open for one year.”
After the discussion, the School Committee voted 3-0 to send the letter to the Select Board.