Springfield School Committee sworn in; Latonya Monroe Naylor elected vice chair in unanimous organizational votes
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Summary
New and returning Springfield School Committee members were sworn in at the committee's organizational meeting; members elected Latonya Monroe Naylor as vice chair and approved committee rules, subcommittee names and chairs, and an Innovation Schools special subcommittee. Attorneys briefed members on ethics and open-meeting obligations.
Newly elected and returning members of the Springfield School Committee were sworn into office during the committee’s organizational meeting, and the committee moved quickly through a slate of organizational votes that set leadership, rules and subcommittees for the coming year.
Gladys Oyola, the city clerk, administered the oath of office to the school committee’s new and returning members, after the vice chair opened the session and dedicated a moment of silence to Coach Sheppard. After the oath, several members offered brief remarks of gratitude and commitment to the district.
The committee unanimously elected Latonya Monroe Naylor as vice chair after Denise Hurst nominated her and Barbara Gresham seconded the nomination. The clerk conducted a roll-call vote; all voting members present cast affirmative votes and the motion passed. Following the election, the committee adopted Robert’s Rules of Order to guide meeting procedure. An attorney explained the rules as “the parliamentary rules of procedure on which we follow, when to vote, who votes, and when, how the votes are taken.”
The committee also amended committee language and subcommittee structures to reflect program changes. Members voted to rename the Vocational Education Subcommittee to the Career Technical Education Subcommittee to align with Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) terminology and to update school committee policies to use “career technical education” in place of older references to “vocational education.”
The chair announced chair assignments for standing and ad hoc committees: Budget & Finance will be chaired by Vice Chair Latonya Monroe Naylor; School Safety by Barbara Gresham; Buildings & Maintenance by Mister Gomez Jr.; Curriculum & Programs by Denise Hurst; Technology by Latonia Naylor; Diversity, Equity & Inclusion by Ayanna Crawford; Career Technical Education by Mister Gomez Jr.; Legislative & Contracts by Ayanna Crawford; and an ad hoc committee for the ZEP transition by Rosa Valentin. Each set of assignments was moved, seconded and approved by roll call.
Members also established an Innovation Schools special subcommittee to guide the transition of ZEP-designated schools back into the district under an innovation-school model. An attorney described the subcommittee’s role as helping “support the district in that process and make any recommendations to the school committee as to what policies or changes need to happen” to support the transition. The committee voted to create the subcommittee and to accept the vice chair’s recommended memberships.
In remarks after the formal business, several members framed the coming term as one of outreach and focus on student opportunity. New committee member Rosa Valentin said her “heart is in Springfield Public Schools,” and Ayanna Crawford said she was “not here for clout” but to “do real work” for Districts 4, 2 and 8. Mister Gumersendal Gomez, sworn to represent Wards 1 and 3, said he would “speak when your voices are ignored” and pledged to serve “with integrity, compassion, and courage.”
The meeting concluded with an adjournment motion that passed by roll call. The committee scheduled informational and training follow-ups for new members, including required ethics and open-meeting acknowledgments.