LYNNFIELD — In her first public comment addressing the bombardment of complaints and public outcry two weeks ago, Superintendent Kristen Vogel announced a proposal to make amends between administration and community stakeholders during a School Committee meeting last week.
The proposal: A teacher’s raffle. The prize: The chance to have the superintendent take over their class “duties” for a day of their choosing. Vogel also announced that she will hold appointment-only office hours on Dec. 5 to “hear your concerns, answer your questions, and problem solve.”
Not only were the dozens of parents in attendance unamused by Vogel’s offer, but it was completely disregarded during the public-comment section of the meeting. Speakers criticized the School Committee and superintendent for their lack of communication, awareness, and transparency, a continuation of the outrage expressed last week.
“I sat here at the School Committee meeting last week and heard a lot of frustration. Frustration because the School Committee and superintendent are not listening to us,” parent Jenny Sheehan said. “The theme running through all of this is there’s a big lack of responsiveness by the School Committee and superintendent when issues are brought forward.”
Vogel’s proposal came during a statement she made at the beginning of the meeting.
“Upon reflecting on last week’s public participation, I feel that there is still a lot of anger, frustration, and concerns out there,” Vogel said.
Sheehan, the first to speak during public comment, discussed her advocacy for smaller class sizes. When she brought to the attention of the committee and superintendent that kindergarten and first-grade classes were oversized due to “purposeful” budget cuts to classrooms, she was told that she “did not understand the issue.”
When asked about the decision to cut classes, Sheehan alleged Vogel said that “class size has no bearing on academic success.”
At the start of last week’s meeting, School Committee members claimed they were unaware of the issues brought up the week prior, including Jamie Hayman, who said that he was “surprised” while admitting that there is a “culture problem” in the district.
Some in attendance weren’t convinced by it.
“You guys started off this meeting saying how you were so surprised and haven’t heard from anybody. That’s just not true,” parent Jim Crawford said.
“It’s disingenuous. It’s dishonest. You have been hearing from us; you’ve been dismissive,” he added.
Another parent, Jenna Camann, encouraged the committee to “walk the talk, and not just talk the talk” while calling members out for “a lack of and disrespectful communication with parents.”
“My emails have gone completely unanswered, while others got the same response. Sometimes with incorrect salutations, as you are in such a hurry to copy and paste,” she said.
She also criticized the committee and superintendent on several other issues, including wavering policies and remaining silent on the departure of former Huckleberry Hill Elementary School Principal Melissa Wyland.
When reached for comment in response to statements made by parents at the meeting, Vogel said that she always welcomes “hearing from parents and community members” and that “it’s always good to hear their experiences and perspectives and their concerns.”
