A Vote of No Confidence in the Sudbury School Committee

This petition calls for a Vote of No Confidence in following members of the Sudbury School Committee, Karyn Jones - Chair, Dr. Jessica McCready - Vice Chair, Elizabeth Sues, and Julie Durgin-Sicree. They have lost focus on their core responsibilities: promoting academic excellence, fiscal discipline, and transparent governance in Sudbury Public Schools. Instead of prioritizing student growth and achievement, academic initiatives, and classroom stability, the Committee has advanced discretionary initiatives, personal agendas, and political priorities while essential academic resources face cuts now and in the future.

The School Committee's procedural and ethical lapses, bypassing of educational leadership, and targeting of SPS's experienced Superintendent who has lead the District successfully for eight years, have created liabilities, instability, and eroded trust in the Committee.

These are only a few examples of ongoing concerns:

• Procedural and governance failures: The School Committee’s handling of two Parent Advisory Council requests lacked a consistent process, clear criteria, and documented justification, raising concerns about transparency, legal compliance, and equitable treatment of students and families.
• Ethical and fiduciary concerns: Prioritizing a non-mandated, non-academic summer camp for a limited number of students while cutting core academic resources, including staff, raises serious concerns about fiduciary responsibility, equity, and alignment with district-wide academic priorities.
• Bypassing District leadership and expertise: Individual School Committee members engaged directly in negotiations and meetings with the Town Manager and Assistant Town Manager typically led by experienced District administration, including the Superintendent and Finance Director. This indicates a broader pattern of circumventing established leadership roles and governance boundaries.
• Undermining of the Superintendent: Superintendent Crozier met and exceeded established goals and received a Proficient rating in his 2025 performance evaluation, consistent with positive evaluations in his prior years. Despite this, discussions regarding the Superintendent’s contract occurred without formal agenda items, public deliberation, or a recorded vote of the full Committee, raising concerns about due process, transparency, and adherence to governance and open meeting standards, and creating potential legal and financial liabilities for Sudbury. 

Rather than strengthening academic programming and safeguarding essential resources, the Committee has prioritized discretionary initiatives while reducing core supports and academic resources for students and educators. 

Although SPS received an additional $200K from the Town, the School Committee directed those funds to a non-mandated, non-academic summer camp instead of following the Superintendent’s budget recommendations to invest in core academic needs. The Committee also failed to pursue $180K in Chapter 70 state funding (State funding provided to Sudbury) for the schools. By not bringing the request to Special Town Meeting in December, taxpayers were denied the opportunity to allocate the funds directly to SPS for students.

As a result, multiple staffing cuts and the elimination of roughly $80K in essential academic tools and resources could have been avoided for next year. Prioritizing the $200K for direct classroom needs and securing the $180K Chapter 70 funds would have preserved critical staffing and academic resources for students and educators.

We are deeply concerned about:

• A lack of focus on student achievement, academic initiatives, and classroom needs
• Decisions that appear driven by individual agendas rather than the best interests of all students
• Insufficient transparency regarding major financial decisions that impact taxpayers
• Governance actions that undermine District leadership and educator expertise

Sudbury is holding over $9 million in free cash and millions in other reserves – our tax dollars. Recently, the Town Manager, Assistant Town Manager, and the Sudbury School Committee have discussed a projected joint $9 million override. The Committee has made no effort to share this information with the broader community. Supporting an override of this size while substantial reserves remain available raises serious concerns about the Committee’s fiscal leadership and its commitment to acting in the best interest of students and the Sudbury community.

Our schools deserve leadership centered on academics, collaboration, and responsible stewardship of public funds.

If individual Sudbury School Committee members cannot fulfill this role, they should step down to allow responsible members of our community to lead. We urge all stakeholders to prioritize actions that keep the education and well-being of our students as the District’s top focus.

Please join us in signing the petition for a Vote of No Confidence in the Sudbury School Committee as the first step toward refocusing on academic excellence, fiscal discipline, and transparent governance in Sudbury Public Schools in the best interest of all students.