Winter Winds

Welcome back!

Here’s what we have for you this week:

1. SudburyWeekly.com News Roundup

2. SPS School Committee Discusses Appointment Process, OML Complaints

3. Goodnow Library Director to Take Post in Andover

4. Watch LWV Candidates’ Forums Now

Let’s get into it!

SudburyWeekly.com News Roundup

SPS School Committee Discusses Appointment Process, OML Complaints

By Kevin LaHaise

The Sudbury Public Schools (SPS) School Committee met on March 3, and discussed two Open Meeting Law (OML) complaints against the committee, as well as the appointment process for a vacancy created by Mary Stephens’ resignation from the committee earlier this year.

Open Meeting Law Complaints

The first OML complaint was filed by the committee chair, Nicole Burnard, against the committee itself. (Details here and here.) (2:10:50)

The second complaint was filed by a member of the public, and questions if the three-member majority committed an OML violation while deliberating and deciding to file an OML complaint against themselves on February 10. The complaint is available on page 37 of the meeting packet here.

The majority opted to refer both complaints to legal counsel to formulate a response to each complaint. Only three of four committee members were present for the meeting, and the votes were not unanimous. Chair Nicole Burnard and Vice Chair Meredith Gerson voted in favor of the action, while member Karyn Jones abstained on both.

While there was discussion about the first OML complaint, and member Jones provided her first public comments about the situation, there was no substantive discussion about the complaint filed by a member of the public. Both complaints were slated for discussion during an executive session that was cancelled last week. Chair Burnard informed the committee that the agenda items were moved to open session this week because member Jones had requested that the complaint regarding her actions be discussed in open session.

Before the committee got to the agenda items, former member Mary Stephens provided public comment regarding the OML complaint pertaining to a meeting she attended with Karyn Jones, and the appointment process. (30:00) Stephens said “That toxic February 10 meeting was a disgrace. Three members attacked us with baseless accusations while violating committee policies themselves. Nicole’s so-called investigation wasn’t about facts. If it were, she would have spoken to all four attendees, rather than cherry-picking and then misconstruing narratives to fit her agenda.”

During deliberation, Member Jones read a statement into the record alleging that Chair Burnard’s complaint “contains misleading and incorrect claims” about what Jones told Burnard regarding a meeting with Safe Schools. She specifically called out, as did Stephens, that the conversation about a bill and Parent Advisory Councils was the same conversation. Jones cited a bill that has now been filed in the legislature as proof. (2:17:25)

Appointment Process

The committee also discussed the appointment process to fill the current vacancy on the committee. The Select Board opted to proceed with the appointment process on February 25, despite the stated preference of the school committee to wait until after the Town election to fill the vacancy. (1:21:00)

Chair Burnard and Vice Chair Gerson voiced frustration with the Select Board’s decision and the committee discussed the pertinent laws, precedent and Town Charter language. The SPS School Committee and the Select Board appear to have differing interpretations of the relevant law, but the interpretations may be irrelevant at this point as the committee opted to participate in the appointment process with the Select Board.

Don Sawyer, Director of Business and Human Resources for SPS, waded into the discussion and advised the committee to make it clear to the Select Board that they wanted to participate in the process to ensure it’s valid. He expressed concern that if the appointment process was not done correctly according to his view, any action of the school committee during the period when the appointee is serving could be challenged. “Should the school committee meet after this, and it’s an invalid appointment, any action the school committee takes is also invalid and can be challenged.” (1:59:25)

The committee also voted 2-1 to authorize Chair Burnard to send a letter to the Select Board expressing their perspective on the situation.

A joint meeting of the SPS School Committee and the Sudbury Select Board is expected to be scheduled in the coming weeks. Applicants for appointment are expected to be interviewed during that meeting, and the two bodies are expected to vote jointly to appoint someone to fill the vacancy until the winner of the contested race for the 2-year seat is sworn in after Annual Town Meeting in May.

Goodnow Library Director to Take Post In Andover

By Kevin LaHaise

At the conclusion of the March 4 meeting of the Goodnow Library Trustees, the director of the library, Esme Green, informed the Trustees that she had accepted a position in Andover.

Green told the Trustees “So this is my last meeting, because I got a new job.” She went on to add “It feels very horrible, as well as good.” (17:35)

The Trustees were audibly surprised, and Chair Jean Nam guided the Trustees to adjourn the meeting so that the they could continue to discuss the news with Green.

Green took on her role at the Goodnow Library in 2011. She led the library through the Covid-19 pandemic, and oversaw an expansion of services through the years, including the launch of the popular “Library of Things.”

Green told Sudbury Weekly:

Watch LWV Candidates’ Forums Now

By The League of Women Voters of Sudbury

The Candidates’ Forums for the March 31 Annual Town Election are now available. There are separate programs for the three contested races: Select Board, the two-year seat on the Sudbury School Committee, and the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional District School Committee. A separate program featuring candidates in uncontested races is also available.  

Voters can find on-demand links to each program in the LWV Voters’ Guide or at sudburytv.org. A cable subscription is not needed to view the programs on-demand on a computer or smartphone. The forum will run on SudburyTV’s cable channels, Comcast 22 and 1074 and Verizon 30 and 2130, during March. Viewers can find the SudburyTV cable broadcast schedule here.

All candidates in contested races participated in the Forum. The League received over 250 suggested forum questions from the community via email and U.S. mail.

The Select Board program features Radha Gargeya, Lisa Kouchakdjian, and Kevin Matthews, who are running for two available seats. Among the topics they covered were affordable housing, projected town budget deficits, vocational education, a warrant article to cut the Community Preservation Act surcharge, and their preferred liaison assignments.

Elizabeth Sues and Allison Vanderels are running for the two-year seat to fill a vacancy on the Sudbury School Committee, which covers grades PreK through 8. In their program, the topics covered included access to YouTube on school-issued devices, development of a gender identity policy, afterschool care, remote access to committee meetings, and the projected town budget deficit.

The three candidates running for the two seats on the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional District School Committee are Charles Morton, Eric Poch, and John Ryan. In their program, the topics covered included a bell-to-bell cellphone policy, the privacy of students’ preferred names and pronouns, a student question on the school’s core values, the regional agreement between the towns of Sudbury and Lincoln, and AP classes.

The candidates in uncontested races recorded brief statements describing the work of the board or committee and their interest in the office. Participating in this forum are Katina Fontes for Goodnow Library Trustee, Carol Bradford for Board of Health, Mara Huston for Park and Recreation Commission, Kirsten Roopenian for Planning Board, and Jessica McCready for the three-year seat on the Sudbury School Committee. Voters can view these statements by clicking on the candidate’s image in the Voters’ Guide or by viewing the program in its entirety via the Voters’ Guide, SudburyTV.org, or on cable.

“We hope voters will find our Voters’ Guide and Candidates’ Forum useful as they consider how to cast their vote,” said Nell Forgacs, LWV voter service chair. “We are grateful to the community for sending so many thoughtful questions for the candidates, and we encourage voters who still have questions to attend the League’s Meet the Candidates event Sunday, March 16, to ask the candidates directly.” The drop-in Meet the Candidates event will be in the Goodnow Library from 2 to 4 p.m. 

The Annual Town Election is Monday, March 31. All precincts vote at the Fairbank Community Center, and polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. There is no in-person early voting for this election.

Mail ballots for the town election will be sent from the Town Clerk’s office starting the week of March 10.  If you want to vote by mail, you need to apply for a mail ballot. Applications from 2024 have expired.  You can find the application form here. Applications must be received in the clerk’s office by Monday, March 24, but it is advisable to apply as soon as possible to allow time for the ballot to be mailed to you and to return it. Details on voting by mail can be found here and on the Town Clerk’s website here.

Parting Thoughts

Today’s weather brought to mind the song “Winter Winds” by Mumford and Sons. Their music features screaming and banjos; making them the perfect band for anyone who loves screaming and banjos.

Thanks to the wind, the power has been flickering on an off throughout the day, adding a little chaos to an otherwise peaceful Friday in Sudbury. The local election season is heating up, and abrupt changes coming out of D.C. have been the subject of much discussion across multiple committees in recent weeks. (More on that in an upcoming feature.)

So what to do when chaos is in the air?

The lyrics in “Winter Winds” are incredibly vapid, so we’ll have to look elsewhere for inspiration this windy Friday. Bob Dylan will have to pinch hit:

“I accept chaos, I'm not sure whether it accepts me.”

Onward!