To the voters of Lynnfield:
My name is Jenny Sheehan, and I am running for a seat on the Lynnfield School Committee. As we approach elections on April 9, I would like to take this opportunity to personally ask you for your vote. However, before I do that, I think it’s important I tell you a little bit about myself and why I’m running for the School Committee.
First and foremost, I am a wife and mother to three young children including a kindergartner and first-grader that attend Summer Street Elementary, and a preschooler at the Bethlehem School. I am a successful small-business owner with multiple fitness studios that I operate as both manager and fitness instructor. Additionally, I am an active volunteer in the town — coaching youth sports as well as being involved in both schools my children attend. At Summer Street School I am a room parent, weekly volunteer, and I sit on the PTO Executive Board as the director of community relations. I am also co-president of the Bethlehem Preschool PTO. Being involved in the schools has helped me to form strong relationships with the teachers and staff, and it is also what prompted me to get involved with the School Committee a year ago.
After years of increasing class sizes, the prior superintendent had recently decided to cut a kindergarten classroom at Summer Street School, a decision that caused concern amongst teachers and parents. In a time when our students are entering school with higher needs than ever, it seemed like exactly the wrong time to further burden our teachers with class sizes that were not only growing, but would be breaching our district policy. I decided to bring this issue directly to the School Committee through public comment. Little did I know that meeting would only be the first of several public comments, many emails to administration, hours of researching school policy of our town and others, and frequent collaboration with some incredibly smart and dedicated parents and teachers. Having spent the better part of the last year attempting to engage both the committee and the administration in dialogue, I came to believe that the operational procedures of our existing leadership at large were not working for our community. For this reason, when the opportunity to run for a seat on the School Committee presented itself, I felt compelled to enter the race to try to make a positive impact for our children.
Should I earn the right to represent you on the School Committee, my efforts would be focused on rebuilding trust through collaboration, transparency, and a fresh perspective to yield positive outcomes for all students.
First, I want to increase collaboration with parents and teachers to better leverage the resources and knowledge in our community. Second, I want to improve transparency and objectivity of the decision-making process. As a business owner, I rely heavily on data to drive the decisions that affect my bottom line, and I believe the School Committee must do the same. Additionally, the decisions made by the committee affect everyone in our community, so they must be made in a transparent process that welcomes scrutiny of all stakeholders.
Lastly, I offer a fresh perspective and representation of the elementary schools, which is 50% of our district and the foundation of our education system, yet has been lacking representation on the committee. Our district has been through a challenging time, and while I’m pleased to see class size has returned to being a priority in the proposed budget, we have many important decisions on the horizon including hiring a new superintendent and negotiating a new contract with the LTA. Fresh and different perspectives are needed so we don’t repeat past mistakes. With my experience as a business owner and mother to young children, I believe I can bring new and different perspectives to the issues we face as a district.
Lynnfield schools enjoy a stellar reputation and have a proud history of producing great outcomes for our children. As a mother to three kids at the very beginning of their education, my singular agenda is to do whatever I can to ensure that tradition remains in place for them and all other students in the years to come. I hope you’ll join me in this effort by casting your vote for Jenny Sheehan on April 9.
Jenny Sheehan
