By DAN TOMASELLO

LYNNFIELD — Four out of the 12 action items the Lynnfield Teachers Association wants school officials to address have been resolved, LTA President Alex Cellucci said during a community forum held in the Lynnfield Middle School cafeteria on April 2.

The LTA hosted the community forum to provide an update on the challenges educators and staff members have experienced over the course of the 2023-2024 academic year. The forum included 25 residents in attendance, including Interim Superintendent Tom Geary, School Committee Chair Kate DePrizio, School Committee Vice Chair Jamie Hayman, School Committee member Jim Dillon and representatives from the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA). In addition to DePrizio and Dillon, the four other candidates running for School Committee also attended the forum.

Cellucci recalled that the LTA presented a resolution to the School Committee in December that declared Lynnfield Public Schools in a “crisis” that needs to be addressed. She said the resolution included 12 action items that the LTA wanted school officials to implement.

The LTA president said one area that has been resolved since Geary succeeded former Superintendent Kristen Vogel is a “very heavy, top-down management style.”

“That was very concerning to us,” said Cellucci. “A lot of that has been resolved, and we are very grateful for those changes. We have seen a significant restructuring from that standpoint.”

Cellucci also said Geary and the School Committee agreed to the LTA’s request that educators be given planning time on most of the remaining early release days this academic year.

“That has been much better,” said Cellucci.

Cellucci also said school officials supported the LTA’s request that paraprofessionals be involved with planning professional development initiatives in a “more meaningful way.”

“I think that has been a step in the right direction,” said Cellucci.

Cellucci also said the LTA is pleased that the proposed fiscal year 2025 school budget seeks to address rising class sizes at the elementary schools.

“We are happy about that,” said Cellucci.

While four action items have been addressed, Cellucci said eight have not. She said the action item seeking to “ensure fair compensation for educator work has yet to be resolved.”

“The restoration of staff positions needs to be resolved,” said Cellucci. “There have been a lot of cuts at the high school. Those need to be resolved at this point in time.”

Cellucci recalled that the LTA requested that “market adjustments” be provided to teachers, paraprofessionals, clerks and secretaries in December.

“Market adjustments for salaries still need resolution at this time,” said Cellucci. “Paying paraprofessionals living wages needs to be resolved.”

Cellucci said the action item seeking to address increased student behavioral issues “still needs to be worked on at this point in time.”

“Meaningful educator inclusion in curriculum decisions is something that still needs to be worked on,” added Cellucci.

While one of the LTA’s action items included a request that outside firms no longer be hired to perform educator work, Cellucci said the teachers’ union supported Geary and the School Committee’s proposal to have the New England Center for Children (NECC) take over the Differentiated Learning Programs (DLP) at Lynnfield Middle School and Huckleberry Hill School next year. She recalled that NECC will be taking over the two classrooms as part of a one-year pilot program.

“We agreed to allow the outside private agency for the two DLP teacher positions,” said Cellucci. “We bargained with the district on that because we knew it was difficult for the district to find those teachers. Initially, our proposal was to look at other successful public school programs and what those models look like. The district proposed this pilot program. We knew the challenges they were facing and we agreed to that one-year pilot, but we still want to look at what successful programs look like in public schools. The district is still employing outside private contracts for several paraprofessional positions. That is something we would like to be resolved.”    

Cellucci also said the LTA still wants to opt into the Massachusetts Paid Family Medical Leave system so that educators and staff members can receive “modern and humane family and parental leave.”

In closing, Cellucci said there are “many issues” outlined in the resolution that the LTA wants to address during the 2024-2025 academic year and in contract negotiations with the School Committee.

“We work with your children every day because it’s a passion,” said Cellucci. “We work with integrity and we work with fidelity. Your kids are important to us, and their education and their success is paramount.”

LTA Vice President Nicole Hawes asked the forum’s attendees to break into small groups to have discussions. The LTA members overseeing the groups asked residents several questions, including “how satisfied are you with communication from the district about these pressing issues” and “do you feel like the administration is responsive when concerns are brought to them.” The educators also asked residents “what do you feel like students need most from the schools” and whether they are “satisfied with district initiatives to address these needs.”

After the groups discussed the three questions, several LTA members gave an overview of the different themes that emerged from the conversations.

A LTA member said residents in their group want more information about what teachers and students “are dealing with every day.”

Another educator said her group wants school officials to “increase communication for residents who don’t have children in the schools currently.”

“We should think about how that can be improved,” said the LTA member.

A LTA member said the residents in her group support Geary and the School Committee’s decision to reinstate multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) interventionists, formerly known as tutors, to both elementary schools and LMS in the proposed FY25 school budget.

“The interventionist positions, particularly at the elementary schools, have been so critical for their children’s academic and social-emotional progress,” said the educator. “As teachers, we couldn’t do it without them.”

Another teacher said her group is concerned that Lynnfield High School is “not getting attention.”

“There have been a lot of cuts at the high school, and there are concerns about what that means for the high school in the future,” said the educator. “Another big focus for our group is how important our paraprofessionals are for the day-to-day things that happen in our classrooms. A question we are trying to figure out is how do we get that information out to the community so they can see how important the paraprofessionals are.”

A LTA member said her group discussed how “student behavior at the high school is kind of out of control.”

“We need to think about how we are giving consequences to students and what we are doing to address some of the behaviors we are seeing in school every day,” said the LTA member. “It seems like a free fall at times, which doesn’t make it a good environment to be learning in.”

Hawes thanked all of the residents, school officials and educators for attending the community forum. She also the LTA wants contract negotiations with the School Committee to be conducted in public next year instead of in executive session.

SC response

School Committee Chair Kate DePrizio read a statement about the LTA’s forum during an April 3 meeting.

“The LTA held a community forum that was open to the public, and gave an update on the status of their resolution items that were presented at the Dec. 12 School Committee meeting,” said DePrizio. “The School Committee appreciates the continued goal of the LTA to keep lines of communication open and active. We are encouraged to hear that some resolution items have been resolved, in their perspective, including top-down management style, giving educators planning time, paraprofessional professional development planning and class size. The committee looks forward to addressing more resolution items in a meaningful and impactful way in future negotiations. We will continue to focus on making decisions that are best for students, and prioritize engagement with staff and solicit their feedback and expertise when appropriate in that decision-making. We value the forward progress that has been made.”

School Committee Vice Chair Jamie Hayman said school officials have “made a lot of progress” addressing the action items.

“I think a number of the unresolved issues are what I would consider to be collectively bargained issues,” said Hayman. “We are going into a contract negotiation next year. We have a long and successful agreement with the LTA on not negotiating in public, and I don’t think we intend to start now. It’s good for the progress, and we will address those things behind closed doors when we are negotiating next year.”