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Educators, students and parents urge district to avoid staff cuts and to make student committee meaningful
Summary
Administrators, teachers and high‑school students used the open mic to urge the school committee to avoid personnel cuts amid a projected multi‑million‑dollar deficit and to ensure the new student school committee leads to concrete student representation.
Several speakers used the meeting’s open‑mic period to press the school committee on two themes: avoiding staff cuts in the face of a projected fiscal shortfall and ensuring new student representation is substantive.
Maura Sheriff, introduced as president of the Lynn Schools Administrators Association and a 27‑year Lynn educator, said the district is "in the middle of a budget process for SY 26" and that she had been "made aware of potential significant cuts," with the most concerning being cuts to personnel. "Any reduction to our staff will result in student suffering," Sheriff said, and she urged the committee to explore ways to close budget gaps without reducing staff.
Matt Wilkins, who identified himself as a Lynn resident and a member of the Lynn School Administrators Association, described how rumors about cuts were fueling anxiety and asked the committee to prioritize minimizing the impact on frontline student‑facing educators. "Please consider the least possible impact on those educators who directly assist students with learning, social emotional well‑being, postgraduate planning, and any other student issues," Wilkins said.
Several students and youth organizers also spoke. Asana Forchap, a senior at Lindquist High School, thanked the committee for creating a student school committee board but urged that the body produce “direct change and action” rather than serving only as an appeasement. "We hope it's not a tool for appeasement or propaganda to satisfy the masses, but rather an actual platform where student input leads to direct change and action," Forchap said.
Lillian Idowu, a senior at Lynn English, said students appreciated meetings with principals to learn how budgeting works and planned to pursue further meetings. Neighbor to Neighbor organizer Gabe Cohen and the group’s youth team spoke in solidarity with educators and students, urging continued collaboration on extracurricular access, club fairs and website updates so students can find club information.
Why it matters: speakers tied staffing levels, mental‑health supports, counselors, security monitors and smaller class sizes directly to student safety and educational outcomes. Multiple speakers asked the district to protect student‑facing positions as the budget is finalized.
Ending: speakers closed by asking the committee to honor campaign promises about improving social‑emotional supports and smaller class sizes and to ensure the new student committee becomes a working vehicle for change.
