‘We want Dr. Lucero to stay’
Being the superintendent of a large school district must be a thankless job. The one person considered responsible for nearly 17,000 students, 21 schools, and almost 3,000 employees is blamed for most of the problems and rarely gets credit for the solutions and improvements that are being implemented every day. Add a snowstorm to the mix? If you call a snow day, you will make half of the district mad. If you don’t, you will make the other half mad (not to mention the serious safety concerns should the roads prove to be worse than anticipated).
Stamford Schools Superintendent Tamu Lucero has risen to the needs of this position with professionalism, real concern for the district and our students, and foresight. And she has done this while inheriting the mold crisis and as a global pandemic changed the way schools educate children.
During these crises she has continued to advocate for the district’s budget by connecting with the Board of Finance on a regular basis (an innovation of hers that has brought parents and other stakeholders into the process), she has begun to make inroads to address our aging buildings through convening the Long-Term Facilities Committee, and she oversaw a complete pivot to distance learning in the district in March 2020.
Dr. Lucero demonstrated her leadership during the coronavirus crisis by listening to all stakeholders and remaining steady in her commitment to work with the city’s Department of Health. Thus, while cries were coming from one side that students needed to be back in school full-time and from the other that returning to school in any form would be too risky and too hard, she navigated the SPS ship through rough seas, keeping us steady and providing students who were able to be in school the opportunity to do so even while other districts across the country remained closed to in-person learning.
While it wasn’t the perfect solution for everybody, it was the most effective and safest for most teachers and students. We were fortunate to have Dr. Lucero’s steady hand at the helm and know that we owe much of the district’s ability to weather the storm to her hard work and cool head. In addition to recognizing the amazing efforts of our teachers and school administrators to continue our children’s education during a global pandemic we would like to acknowledge the hard work of everyone behind the scenes as well — including central office staff, the associate superintendents, and Dr. Lucero as the person who kept everything together.
Despite all of these challenges, the district continues to move forward under her leadership. She visits the schools regularly, meets with concerned parents, represents the district at the municipal and state levels, communicates regularly with the community, and invites input from stakeholders. Even before her latest appointment, Dr. Lucero made incredible contributions to our district — from addressing the district’s special education needs to helping to shepherd through our newest school building to alleviate overcrowding at others. As superintendent postCOVID, imagine what she will be able to do for our district.
Knowing the timing of contract negotiations and the number of closed sessions the Board of Education has had to discuss Dr. Lucero’s position in the district, we want to make it clear that we know that it is in the best interest of our district and especially our students to retain her as superintendent of Stamford Public Schools. Not only is she an effective leader, but as a district we are in need of consistency and stability when it comes to our superintendent. Lately, the position has been a revolving door. Every time a new superintendent takes the position, he or she changes course, and the district needs to adjust. If we can continue with our current leadership and remain on course, we are hopeful that we can actually accomplish the goals we set out for ourselves. As parents, community members, and district employees we want that consistency for the sake of our students. We want Dr. Lucero to stay.
Jennifer Forman, Strawberry Hill parent; Regan Allan, AITE Parent; Marni Amsellem, AITE parent; Catherine Baloutch, Stamford Public Schools (SPS) parent; Jennifer Bentley, SPS parent; Eleanor Blomstrom, Strawberry Hill parent; Marcella Branca, Westhill parent; Lisa Butler, SPS parent; Sandra Carlton, Strawberry Hill assistant principal; Cheryl Devault, AITE parent; Braedan Devault, AITE ’24; Ella Devault, AITE ’21; Lucas Devault, AITE ’24; Todd Devault, AITE parent; Robin Druckman, Stamford High Government Council member; Alexa Eisenberg, SPS parent; Gabi Field, SPS parent; Joa Field, Turn of River ’22; Leo Field, Stamford High School (SHS) ’24; Michael Field, PLTI Graduate, SPEF, ’21; Erik Findeisen, SHS parent; Jim Fleischer, Board of Representatives District No. 15; Kevin Fleischer, AITE ’22; Maggie Fleischer, AITE ’25; Patrick Fleischer, AITE ’19; Anne Flounders, Westhill parent; Marnin Forman, Strawberry Hill parent; John Geils, Stamford resident; Patricia Geils, Stamford resident; Zareen Husain, SPS parent; Michael Hyman, Stamford Stands Against Racism; Beata Jablonska, AITE parent; Leah Kagan, Davenport parent; Julia Kempton, AITE ’19, NYU ’23; Kim Kempton, SPS parent; Lucia Kempton, SHS ’23; Scott Kempton, SPS parent; Alexander Lee, SHS student; Duncan Lee, SHS parent; Yolanda Lee, SHS parent; Michelle Lesser, SPS parent; Suzanne Malloy, SPS parent; Brook Manewal, SPS parent; Jason Morfoot, Rogers parent; Leigh Morfoot, Rogers parent; Versha Munshi-South, SPS parent; Aru Nandikesan, Scofield parent; Amy Notter, SPS parent; Maisam Nouh, SPS parent; Stephanie O’Shea, SHS parent; Frank Rodriguez, Strawberry Hill principal; Ramya Shaw, Hart parent; Bianca Shinn, SPS alumna; Kathleen Steinberg, Stillmeadow parent; Shira Tarantino, SPS parent; Darcey Trudeau, SPS parent; Alice Valerio, Westhill ’24; Andrea Valerio, Westhill parent; Emma Valerio, SHS ’21; Susanna Vidan, Stamford resident.