In a closely contested election for the School Committee, Shauna Murry emerged victorious alongside candidate Lauren Diffenbach.
The election results showed Murray with 2,391 votes, her counterpart Diffenbach with 1,977, and McCready, a former school committee only around 100 votes below at 1,812.
STAFF PHOTO / Molly Borenstein A woman poses with a “Diffenbach & Murray” poster.
Murray and Diffenbach are both experienced educators. In an interview with ANDOVERVIEW, Murray specifically mentioned her two decades of service in public schools and believed her background set her apart from other candidates. “Residents recognized the value of having an educator’s perspective on the committee,” Murray said. Diffenbach, also highlighted similar ideas to Murray, believing that her background in education and help from the AEA pushed her toward victory.
Reflecting on her campaign strategy, Murray emphasized the importance of positivity and outreach. “We focused on highlighting my strengths as a candidate and addressing the concerns of our public education system,” she said.
Diffenbach, echoed Murray’s sentiments, expressing gratitude for unexpected community support during the campaign process. “Word of mouth goes a long way, and I will be forever grateful for the outpouring of support that led me here,” she said.
As she steps into her new role, Murray plans to prioritize listening to the community and reflecting on past initiatives. “I want to rebuild the bridge between the School Committee, teachers, and staff,” Murray states, emphasizing her commitment to representing all constituents.
Acknowledging the divides in the community, Murray and Diffenbach express a desire to collaborate with all voices. “As a district, there is a need for intentional work around repairing fractured relationships,” Diffenbach states. “I’m hopeful to increase collaboration and bridge the divides.”
Looking ahead, Murray sees healing as a primary challenge facing Andover’s education system. “We cannot move forward until we address recent tensions,” Murray emphasized. “In my experience working in education, the challenges seen by the public are often indicative of more complicated and deep-rooted challenges that exist within an education system. Up until now, I have only known the surface-level challenges as seen by the rest of the public. My first step is to learn more about those hidden systemic challenges in order to formulate a path to addressing them.”
In the wake of the recent close election for the school committee, ANDOVERVIEW reached out to a trio of first-time voters, all seniors, to reflect on the outcome, sharing their motivations and considerations in casting their votes.
STAFF PHOTO / Molly Borenstein People celebrate in the voting “Victory After Party.”
Nick Vaccaro, a senior and vice president of student government, expressed neutrality regarding the election results. “Both Diffenbach and Murray were considerate and smart members of the Student Government’s Forum,” Vaccao shared. “The candidates this year all ran great campaigns, and it was exciting to see so many fresh voices appeal to Andover for a spot.”
On March 21st, Student Government hosted a forum where students prepared questions to ask the candidates. All candidates were present and given time to speak directly to the club and any other students present about their campaign.
For Vaccaro, it was his first time filling out a ballot which motivated him to vote. “The major factor that contributed to my choice was definitely performance by candidates at the school committee forum,” he explained. “There, I could see each candidate at the personal level and hear what they were hoping to accomplish if elected.”
Michaela Buckley spoke about doing her own research. “After the strike, public approval seemed to sway far more in favor of the teachers union, so it makes sense that the union-endorsed candidates won,” she says. Buckley emphasized the importance of civic duty in motivating her to vote, stating, “It really excited me that my vote could have such an impact on election results (and therefore the town politics).”
Spencer Bleson, senior, expresses confidence in the candidates no matter the election outcome. “Even before the election, I think we had a great pool of candidates,” he said. “That being said, I am very excited to see how Diffenbach and Murray will be able to revitalize the School Committee and use their experience as teachers to bridge the gap between town government and the actual schools.”
Belson highlighted the ease of voting and the importance of representing student voices in his decision-making process. “Seeing as most students in APS are under 18, I voted to represent the voices of the students,” he says. Belson also adds, “It literally takes 5 minutes, so why not vote?
COURTESY PHOTO / Christopher Shepley Christopher Shepley smiles for the camera.
Andover High School senior Christopher Shepley will enter the race in the upcoming School Committee election in March with a mission of bringing change and transparency. ANDOVERVIEW interviewed him during the Andover Education Association’s rally at Andover Common on November 10.
Why are you running for the school committee?
I’m running for school committee because it’s clear to me that the current people in power right now are just completely incompetent. If you look at the teachers’ strike, for example, they’ve had since January to come up with a contract, but they’ve drawn this out back and forth… [it’s] absolutely terrible. And I support the educators 100%… I’m running [to] advocate for the students, the educators, the parents, everybody. Because right now on the school committee, there’s one voice that’s being represented and that’s the people on the committee. They represent special interests of themselves… not the town.
How will you get on the school committee?
I’m going to get on the school committee by reaching out to people who don’t necessarily vote in the town elections. If you look at the town elections, the turnout is very low. So I want to reach out to the people who don’t come out to vote… and to speak to them. I want to get the message out to everybody who has seen the wrongs [of] the school committee, who sees that there needs to be change, and needs to be someone who will stand up for the interests of the communities and the interests of the school district.
What will you do once you become part of the school committee?
My first goal is to be completely transparent. I want to bring transparency back to the school committee. Right now, if you look, especially during the bargaining sessions, it’s all behind closed doors. The teachers have said they want to open it up to the public, [but] the school committee won’t. There [are] a lot of decisions that are being made that the public is not in tune with. They aren’t informed about [it]. So I want to bring transparency. I want to bring the interests of everybody; to act as a mouthpiece for the community. I want to act as the spokesman for the little guy: the [people] in town who [are not] necessarily represented right now. For more information on his campaign, visit: https://www.apsrenewal.com/
The Andover Education Association (AEA) rallied outside schools and at Andover Commons on Friday, November 10, after voting to strike Thursday night.
For the first time in 30 years, the AEA strikes gathered a crowd of red at the Town Commons.
With schools closed due to the Union’s strike, many students came out to show their support for educators. In the crowd of nearly 1000, there were also parents and other educators from neighboring districts like Haverhill, Woburn, and North Andover.
Parent Lauren Kinney hopes that the school committee will come to see “the value that our teachers provide and agree that their requests are not unreasonable.” AHS Senior Michaela Buckley said that educators “do so much for us and the least we can do is have them paid a liveable wage.” 2023 Alumnus John Macy agreed with Buckley and stood with the AEA saying “They did a great job educating me and I want to get them a fair contract.”
Arlington teacher and Methuen resident, Jenna Maderios, said it was important to her “to come out and show teacher solidarity.” Strikes like this have been successful in other Massachusetts towns and while “it’s unfortunate that it has to get to this, it is what Andover educators deserve,” Maderios said.
With the AEA’s decision to strike, the Commonwealth Employment Relations Board (CERB) at the Department of Labor Relations ordered the Union to cease and desist after they broke the law (M.G.L. c. 150E, s. 9A). The CERB also ordered a state mediator for the negotiations held on November 10.
Oscar Gillette, a 2023 alumnus of AHS, created Respect Our Teachers, “a group of students and alumni who support the union” said Gilette. The group is taking two approaches, electoral (where they will gather signatures, and if they get 200 signatures from registered Andover adults a town meeting will be triggered) and civil disobedience (where students will refuse to attend school without a fair contract for their educators).
STAFF PHOTO / Julia Rodenberger Seniors rally in support of the AEA.
The School Committee’s proposal on Friday included enhanced paid parental leave (including 11 weeks of paid leave for any parent) and an increase in sick days for Instructional Assistants which now have a total of 15 sick days.
While the Committee is dedicated to “negotiating in good faith” as said in their statement on November 11, the AEA has made it clear that enough is enough even though they have yet to respond.
For more information on negotiations visit aps1.net
The Andover Education Association (AEA) voted to go on strike Thursday afternoon and rallied yesterday, November 10, outside the closed schools and Andover Common.
After the November 8 bargaining session fell through, the AEA voted overwhelmingly in favor of striking the following afternoon on November 9. Yesterday at around 8 a.m., teachers and Instructional Assistants (IAs) from respective negotiation Units A & B demonstrated at all Andover Public Schools to show their support for the strike. At 12 p.m., joined by many other teachers and union leaders from all over the state, they began gathering outside of the Memorial Auditorium.
STAFF PHOTO / Julia Rodenberger AHS Teachers make their way to Andover Commons to continue the strike.
The School Committee’s proposal from Thursday and AEA’s most recent proposal from October 25 include increased wages for both entry-level teachers and IAs, a greater amount of prep time per day, and more parental leave.
An emergency negotiation session between the AEA and the School Committee, along with a mediator sent by the Massachusetts Commonwealth Employment Relations Board (CERB), took place yesterday afternoon at 2 p.m. The parties bargained for eight hours.
The School Committee published a statement this morning, November 11, at 5 a.m. detailing their further offers of increased paid parental leave and sick time. The AEA has not publicized any counterproposals.
The Andover School Committee had filed a petition shortly before the Thursday afternoon vote with CERB at the Department of Labor Relations to prevent the strike. They “[urged] the AEA to end the theatrics [to]… negotiate in good faith.” When the AEA continued with the strike, CERB found the union in violation of Massachusetts state law and ordered the members to concede the strike by tomorrow, Sunday, November 12.
At the rally yesterday, AEA Chair Matthew Bach said the union was “doing this today because it was the right thing to do… to overcome fear… and individualism.” The AEA has not yet publicly responded to CERB’s order.
Two new Andover School Committee members, Emily DiCesaro and Sandis Wright, were elected on March 22. Both members aim to aid communication between the Andover community and the district, with a hopeful outlook on their impact.
COURTESY PHOTO / Judge DiCesaro New school committee member Emily DiCesaro
Emily DiCesaro
DiCesaro has experience listening to, advocating for, and asking questions of the community she serves as a user experience designer at IBM, which may be helpful in meeting her goal of improving interpersonal connections in Andover. She said she decided to run for School Committee after she participated in the search for the new Andover superintendent through a town subcommittee; she was attracted by the optimistic and mutually beneficial relationship between the School Committee and the superintendent. She expressed a strong desire to support Superintendent Magda Parvey and the Andover community to her best ability.
“[The School Committee members] have a common goal. We all want what’s best for the kids of Andover and the teachers,” said DiCesaro. “Starting to remember that and bringing us back to respectful disagreements is important.”
While DiCesaro has only been in office for a few months, she has already set her sights on helping the Andover community in a few specific ways: mending the damage done on mental health by the COVID-19 pandemic, finding new strategies for helping Andover get back on its feet, and creating a better dynamic between the school committee and the citizens of Andover.
“I think there’s relationships that need to be repaired,” said DiCesaro. “We have to figure out ways to show people we’re listening to them.”
She put forward ideas as to how she can bring about this change, such as reaching out to PTO groups or school events and using the district’s budget in creative ways to enhance community spaces like the Cormier Youth Center. Another idea is to research what other towns have done in the past to improve communication and cope with damage. DiCesaro said she knows there will be challenges to her goals, sometimes even from inside the community itself, but she still has hope.
DiCesaro also said she loves Andover itself, and often goes for walks on the AVIS trails with her dog and family. She enjoys gardening and traveling and has even been in a crowd used for sound effects in movies. She said she is excited to help Andover and its community in any way possible.
Sandis Wright
COURTESY PHOTO / Sara Hinchey New school committee member Sandis Wright
Wright said he knows how to communicate effectively and understand people’s needs, as that is a large part of the various Andover subcommittees he has participated in and the School Committee itself. He’s been involved in many public service groups in Andover, such as the Diversity Equity and Inclusion Committee (DEI), Andover Parent to Parent, and the board of the A Better Chance (ABC) program. Wright went on to say that he believes in public education and looks forward to continuing his “ability to impact and shape our community” through his term as a School Committee member.
“Sometimes people want to shy away from having difficult discussions if there’s something that’s not understood or perceived to be controversial or a taboo topic to discuss,” said Wright. “I hope I can help fill an opportunity with the community where maybe folks don’t feel like they’ve been heard.”
Hearing people’s thoughts and their values is one of Wright’s main goals, along with “minimizing abrasion and frustration” between the School Committee and the community of Andover, whether they be parents, teachers, or students. He said he was motivated to find a greater positive impact in the school committee position through his participation in DEI and ABC, and will look forward to continuing to help Andover.
Wright works as Managing Director of Information Management at Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, a healthcare provider. He said he thinks this will help him to be a better school committee member because he already has experience searching for innovative opportunities. He also said he knows that both his day job and the responsibilities of the School Committee are aimed to achieve the best possible outcomes for personal and widespread groups of people, and that he is confident in his ability to handle whatever challenges may come.
Upon seeing Superintendent Magda Parvey’s results from the feedback survey she sent out to the district’s community, Wright said he was impressed by the importance, thoughtfulness, and prominence of Andover students’ thoughts and needs. “I’m excited to amplify the student voice,” said Wright. “[and] I am reenergized when I hear from our young generation.”
In his free time, Wright enjoys gardening, traveling, and cooking or trying new foods.
On the night of March 4, the mask mandate in Andover Public Schools was lifted by the APS School Committee. APS students and staff are no longer required to wear masks in school or at school-sponsored events.
Because of the schools’ high vaccination rates and the steady decrease in COVID-19 cases prior to the mandate being lifted as well as the state mandate being lifted, the committee determined that it would be safe to stop wearing masks in school. Many were excited that the mandate was ending, and the committee’s decision was supported by the majority of the community.
Since then, many people have stopped wearing masks, but there are some who are keeping their masks on. Ohad Mamet, a junior, said that he is planning on wearing a mask until the cases stabilize. “I want to wait a while before I stop wearing it to make sure there are no new outbreaks caused from everyone stopping wearing their masks at once,” he said. This was a common concern since the mandate was lifted just a week after February break, butthe cases have not increased too dramatically. In fact, the cases have mostly declined since the break.
The numbers of weekly reported COVID-19 cases in AHS and the APS district.
AHS junior Diya Ganesh, while a bit worried about the mandate getting lifted, noted that it may not make that big of a difference. “Cases seem to be okay, which is all that really matters,” said Ganesh. “[It’s] not like people were really wearing masks all that well before.” Mamet agreed. “The mandate was helpful initially, but just became useless and annoying when people refused to wear their masks properly,” he said. “Lifting the mandate didn’t really change anything from a safety perspective as most of the people who wore masks properly are still wearing masks and the ones who didn’t aren’t.”
“I think at first a lot of people wanted to keep their masks on, but as time went on, I think people realized that it was unnecessary,” said Freshman Ian Chiang. “It’s comfortable to not have one on… I personally feel safe enough to not wear one myself.” He also said that if COVID cases were to increase, he would start masking again.
Interestingly, an email from AHS principal Caitlin Brown to teachers on March 7 said that because the policy has been changed to mask optional, there is no longer a need for mask breaks. Instead, Brown wrote, “Students in masks can take a break in the classroom as needed.” Junior Riley Cox thought that this didn’t make sense, because it would defeat the purpose of those students wearing masks in the first place. However, there are some teachers who allow masking students or the whole class to take short breaks in the hallway if needed.
A concern of School Committee members was the potential for harassment and division between people who continued to wear their masks and those who chose not to. “Are teachers prepared to address that kind of behavior in their classrooms?” asked Tracy Spruce, a member of the Andover School Committee. “If we’re going to do this, I want to be confident that the level of instability we’ve experienced over this issue is not going to translate into our classrooms.” While this “instability” has not been too common at AHS, some have experienced it. “I’ve faced some from a select group of kids, but most people haven’t said anything,” said Cox. However, Superintendent Dr. Magda Parvey stated that the schools’ general anti-bullying policy will deal with these types of issues.
Additionally, there was a push from parents in the community to lift the mandate. When Andover Patch asked about people’s thoughts on the mandate on Facebook, some had strong opinions. “This is so long overdue,” said user Tim Pitta. “History will never understand why we put our children through this… Shame on our policy makers for not lifting this mandate a long time ago.” Another user, Traci Babcock-Connor, claimed that mask mandates are “child abuse,” and that “[t]he fear and anxiety created are criminal and [there] needs to be accountability.” On the other hand, there were many who felt the decision was made too soon.
Nevertheless, the mask mandate was passed, and the number of cases is continuing to go down. People have been mostly supportive of their peers’ choices. “I am confident that all in the community will be respectful and supportive of an individual’s choice to either wear a mask or not,” said Parvey.
On February 17, the Andover Public Schools Committee discussed making masks optional in APS after February break, following a change in state guidelines.
The change to the mask policy recommended by Superintendent Dr. Magda Parvey, based on data provided by Director of Nursing Rita Casper and Director of Public Health Thomas Carbone, was to make masks optional in APS schools starting on March 7, a week after returning from break. Following multiple hours of discussion, the Committee decided to vote on the issue in their next meeting on March 3.
In addition to making masks optional, the change in policy will also “delegate masking decisions to the superintendent in consultation with public health experts” according to a Facebook post made by School Committee member Shannon Scully.
Over sixty members of the public attended the meeting, with many speaking about the masks issue. The audience frequently interrupted the meeting by clapping loudly or shouting. The Committee asked for all to be quiet multiple times.
All members of the public who gave public input in the meeting were in favor of making masks optional in schools starting February 28. However, School Committee member Paul Murphy noted the Committee has received emails from Andover residents in favor of making masks optional at a later date.
Taking two meetings to vote on a proposal is the regular protocol for School Committee decisions. However, many members of the public attending the meeting requested the Committee hold an emergency meeting before February 28 or go against protocol and take a vote in the February 17 meeting, due to the nature of the issue. “We just don’t want this to keep going on,” said parent Concetta Archambault.
Speakers asked the Committee to make a decision before returning to school from break to ensure clarity on the issue of masks, rather than confuse and stress out students and parents.
The committee decided to wait until March to vote so they can take more time to consider the issue. There is currently support from the Committee to make masks optional starting March 7, but the official vote will take place on March 3.
The superintendent recommended the mandate be lifted on March 7 because after every school break since the start of COVID there has been a spike in cases, based on data provided by Carbone and Casper. After Christmas break, there was an especially high spike, with students missing in many classes at Andover High School due to being quarantined.
COURTESY PHOTO / Andover TV Thomas Carbone, Director of Public Health, and Rita Casper, Director of Nursing, speaking at the School Committee meeting
School Committee Chairperson Susan McCready suggested the mandate be lifted starting on the night of March 4 instead of Monday March 7 so the sophomore semi-formal dance on March 5 can be mask-optional. This will be decided in the next meeting.
Despite the recent spike, lifting the mask mandate was recommended because of the consistent decline in cases since return from winter break and the high vaccination rates at APS. Not including at-home antigen tests, only six students tested positive for COVID in the week preceding break, and over 70% of students are vaccinated in all APS schools except Shawsheen Preschool. In AHS, 89% of students are partially or fully vaccinated.
After the mask mandate is lifted, students will still be required to wear a mask for ten days after testing positive for COVID, in health facilities, and on school buses due to federal regulations regarding public transport.
Despite the lack of a mandate, students who are immunocompromised or unvaccinated are encouraged to continue to wear masks if they become optional.
Speakers from the public raised various concerns about continuing to mandate masks.
Many speakers talked about removing masks as a sign of return to normalcy and that it would increase feelings of safety and consistency among kids. They also noted the increase of mental health issues over COVID has partially been due to feelings of fear among students, and that removing the mask mandate would help everyone feel as if the situation is getting better.
Tara Dunham, a mental health professional, said, “Fear does not prevent death, it prevents life.” Rhonda Rosner, a parent to students in APS,said masks demonstrate “learned helplessness” to kids.
Speakers also mentioned the negative effects of masks on child development and learning; difficulties masks cause for students with hearing, speech and sensory related disabilities; and some studies showing mask mandates had little effect on slowing the spread of COVID.
Additionally, eighth grader Carmela Balitty said that if the mandate was not lifted prior to the 28th, she and some of her friends would refuse to wear masks in school, and if they were forced to, they would walk out and peacefully protest. “I refuse to wear something oppressed onto me,” she explained. While she said that she didn’t think their actions alone would change the mandate, it would “make a statement.”
The School Committee had a mixed response to lifting the mandate, agreeing with the benefits of it being lifted while voicing concerns.
While agreeing it was time to “take a step forward,” School Committee member Tracey Spruce worried about the effect of the policy change on immunocompromised community members, and teachers who had kids too young to be vaccinated. Those sentiments were met with heavy criticism from some audience members.
Vice Chairperson Lauren Conoscenti pointed out that many towns in the area are lifting their mandates on March 7 or later. She echoed concerns about the risk for immunocompromised people, sharing the experience of being immunocompromised herself.
The Committee also voiced concerns about possible bullying of students who continue to wear masks if the mandate is lifted, considering the tension the issue drew. It was mentioned by a member of the public that bullying of students who will not be wearing masks is possible as well. Parvey noted APS already has a code of conduct regarding bullying.
According to Justin Jin, an AHS Student Government representative at the meeting, opinion over lifting the mandate is divided among AHS students. Based on a survey Student Government conducted, of about 800 student responses, 49% of students support going mask-optional, 33% are against the change, and 16% are not sure.
Regardless of whether the mandate passes or not, Jin hopes the Andover community will stay strong. “I just hope our community stays together,” he said, about his personal view on the mandate.
