School Committee member Kate DePrizio stepped down as committee chair via a Facebook post on her official school committee page Thursday, Sept. 19.
DePrizio has served as the chair since January 2024 and will remain on the committee.
“Representing our district as Chair has been an absolute honor and privilege of my life,” DePrizio stated in her post. “I cherish the opportunities that I have had to engage with our wonderful staff, and the opportunities to engage, in meaningful ways, with our amazing students.”
She stated she is “proud” of the improvement she has helped “come to fruition” with the rest of the committee.
DePrizio stated she believes the committee has tried to place the interest of the town’s constituents — students, teachers, staff, families, and community — at the forefront of its decisions.
“These constituents and their interests have been our guiding light. In keeping with that guiding light, I now announce that I will reluctantly step down as chair of the committee for the benefit of our constituents,” she stated.
DePrizio stated the committee has focused on transparency in recent months and events in the past days have “redirected and interfered” with the committee’s duties. She add, the events have created “tension” between the “transparency and the duties” of the committee.
The committee began a process for School Committee member Jamie Hayman to “receive the information and staff concerns he requested” at the meeting on Sept. 11, she stated. The process was initiated “under [her] leadership and under the advice of [the committee’s] counsel,” and has led to the “current state of affairs.”
“Unfortunately, instead of the focus remaining on the issues raised at that meeting, I have become the focus of discussions,” DePrizio added. She stated she stepped down as chair of the committee “in an effort to calm the situation and return the focus to the issues raised and to our constituents, the teachers, students, and their families.”
DePrizio will remain as a member of the committee.
“I will continue to focus my efforts on rebuilding the trust and inspiring our staff and students toward excellence. I will continue to prioritize every student, every day, in every possible way as I have always done. I will continue to hold myself and my fellow committee members to the highest standards of excellence,” she stated.
DePrizio stated it is her “intention to hold responsible all individuals who have led us to this moment and to this unnecessary escalation. We must always resist efforts to steer us away from the primary duty of this committee.”
