Three new members of the Springfield School Committee, Ayanna Crawford, Rosa Valentin and Gumersindo Gomez, Jr., stand before being sworn in at the committee’s Jan. 5 organizational meeting.
Reminder Publishing photo by Sarah Heinonen
SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield School Committee welcomed three new members at its swearing-in ceremony on Jan. 5.
City Clerk Gladys Oyola-Lopez swore in Ayanna Crawford, Rosa Valentin and Gumersindo Gomez Jr., along with veteran committee members LaTonia Monroe Naylor, Barbara Gresham and Denise Hurst at the committee’s organizational meeting.
“For me, this is a big accomplishment,” Valentin said. A recently retired educator, she said she will be a voice for students and families. “My heart is in the Springfield Public Schools.”
Referencing the makeup of this year’s City Council and School Committee, Crawford said she was “elated” that the city’s governing bodies reflect such diversity. “I, too, understand the struggles that affect all of us, she said. While she thanked those who voted for her, she emphasized that she will serve on behalf of everyone in District 4.
Vietnam Veterans of America Minority Affairs National Chair Gumersindo Gomez cried as his son spoke from the dais. Gomez Jr. addressed his constituents, saying, “This is not my seat. This is your seat. I will speak when your voices are ignored, and I will listen when you need to be heard.”
Listening to his brother from the audience, state Sen. Adam Gomez quipped, “Well, I can step down.”
Hurst congratulated City Council President Tracye Whitfield, who had been sworn in as the city’s first Black woman council president hours earlier. Noting the crowd that flowed out of the chamber and into the hallway, she urged people to continue to be engaged and informed.
“These chambers don’t need to be filled just on inauguration day. They should be filled every time there is an open meeting,” she said.
The School Committee is “just as important as any other office,” Hurst said. Echoing Crawford’s remarks, she said, “I’m so excited to be sitting up here with these beautiful Black and brown faces.” Aside from the School Committee chair, Mayor Domenic Sarno, the body is composed of six Black and Latino members, five of which are women. Gresham agreed with Hurst, saying “It’s a wonderful day in the city.”
Superintendent Sonia Dinnall teared up and said that she was “very humbled.” Growing up in Mason Square, “I never thought I’d be sitting here today.” She added, “Springfield Public Schools, you are in for a treat,” she said, adding, that the schools would have “the best and the brightest making decisions on your behalf.”
Monroe Naylor, who was unanimously selected to serve as vice chair of the committee, briefly alluded to a 2024 controversy that forced the resignation of then-Superintendent Daniel Warwick after he shared a recording of himself disparaging Monroe Naylor.
“Through the grind comes the diamond,” she said.
The committee began the year by changing the name of the Vocational Education Subcommittee to Career Technical Education Subcommittee and adjusting policy language to reflect the name change.
The committee also established an Innovation School Special Subcommittee, chaired by Valentin, to support the transition of seven schools from the Springfield Empowerment Zone Program back into the wider Springfield Public Schools district during the 2026-27 school year.
SZEP is a nonprofit partnership between Springfield Public Schools, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Springfield Education Association teachers’ union, which works to improve chronically underperforming schools.
