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A highly anticipated joint meeting of the Sudbury Public Schools (SPS) School Committee, Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School School Committee (LSSC) and Lincoln Public Schools (LPSSC) School Committee ended where it began on November 13 — with no decisions made by any of the three committees.
The tri-district meeting was scheduled to push towards some sort of calendar alignment following months of committee and subcommittee work. After roughly two hours of discussion, the three committees appeared to be moving away from the original intent of aligning school calendars.
A variety of perspectives were shared throughout the discussion, with a few defining moments. SPS School Committee member Nicole Burnard eased off her prior statements of support for a shift to State and Federal holidays only… but only if Lincoln-Sudbury would back off their majority position to add as many as four holidays and instead meet in the middle.
Charles Morton of the LSSC voiced dismay at the idea that committee members would respond to a request for new holidays by removing pre-existing holidays.
LPSSC member Ken Lepage characterized the addition of certain religious holidays decades ago as a “mistake,” which was quickly met with forceful condemnation from Jack Ryan of the LSSC. Ryan objected fiercely to any insinuation that the addition of Jewish High Holy days to the calendar was a “mistake.”
SPS Chair Karyn Jones interjected to lower the temperature, and the committees settled back into a more collaborative tone. Nonetheless, none of the committees were ready to take any sort of votes on calendars. By the end of the meeting the committees were no closer to aligning than Elizabeth Warren is to getting an invitation to a “Great Gatsby” party at Mar-a-Lago.
The group opted not to dissolve the subcommittee they created to work on the matter over the preceding months, and several members voiced a desire to discus matters further in their own committees. The ongoing discussion of calendars will remain ongoing for now… but the clock is ticking as budget season fast approaches and any calendar decisions may have budget impact.
Notably, the SPS committee members appeared to be split 2-2 in their positions, with two members favoring State and Federal holidays and two seemingly supporting the existing calendar. They remain short one member following the resignation of Mandy Sim.
The LSSC appeared to remain firmly in favor of adding multiple holidays, and it appeared as though LPS was leaning towards State and Federal… or at least leaning as far away from the rapidly expanding gorge between the SPS and L-S committees.
The SPS committee came the closest to taking a vote, but member Nicole Burnard voiced a desire to hear what the L-S committee would do before deciding if she would support State and Federal or an as-is calendar.
To continue following the calendar discussions, residents will have to watch each committee in the weeks and months ahead. Based on the discussion in this meeting, calendar conversations could stretch into 2026.
