Town Government
School Committee & Superintendent
The Superintendent
Dr. Jodi Fortuna
About 1,568 students start their day in this district, and one person answers for all of it. Dr. Jodi Fortuna leads Lunenburg Public Schools, proposing the school budget, setting academic priorities, and running five schools day to day. The Superintendent is hired by and reports to the elected School Committee, which evaluates her against goals it publishes and votes on. Note what this means for the money: the school budget is the one large piece of town spending the Town Manager does not build. Lunenburg’s charter makes her the appointing and contracting authority for every town department except the public schools, so the school budget comes from the Superintendent to the School Committee, and then to the same Town Meeting that votes everything else.
| Role | Superintendent of Schools |
|---|---|
| Office | Turkey Hill Elementary School, 129 Northfield Road, Lunenburg |
| Phone | 978-582-4100 ext. 5211 |
| Website | lunenburgschools.net |
The School Committee
The Lunenburg School Committee has five members, all elected town-wide to staggered three-year terms. Lunenburg is a single-town PreK to 12 district, so all five answer to Lunenburg voters and nobody else. The committee sets district policy, approves the school budget, and hires and evaluates the Superintendent. It publishes its own officers, and Lunenburg fills three of them: a Chair, a Vice Chair and a Secretary. Meetings are public, which means a Lunenburg student who shows up can be in the room where the school budget is written.
Laura Brzozoski
Anthony Sculimbrene
Mandy Gilman
Emily Young
Jean Russell
The district publishes an individual email address for each committee member on its School Committee page, alongside the term expiry for every seat.
The District at a Glance
- Enrollment: 1,568 students, PreK through 12.
- Schools: five, including Lunenburg High.
- Graduation rate: 96.0%.
- State data: DESE profile (code 01620000).
Meetings & Participation
- When: the committee meets monthly. The current schedule and every agenda are posted on the district’s own School Committee page.
- Watch it live: meetings are broadcast live on the first Wednesday of every month on Public Access Channel 8, the town’s own cable access channel.
- Watch it later: the district rebroadcasts each meeting on Channel 8 on Saturday and Sunday at 7 am, Monday at 4 pm, and Tuesday and Thursday at 8 am, so a school night is not the only way to see one.
- Public comment: meetings are open to the public. Check the posted agenda for how the committee is taking comment that night.
What this seat decides
Your schools
School Committee. Start times, the school calendar, bus routes and stops, the phone policy, athletics and activity fees, and anything in the student handbook. It sets district policy, and the total size of the school budget is voted by Town Meeting, or by your Mayor and Council in a city.
Your principal and your superintendent. The principal for how a school rule works day to day in your building. The superintendent for how the whole district runs. The School Committee hires exactly one employee, the superintendent, so a question about any other staff member goes to the district, not to the board.
Curious how a bill becomes law, or how students can take on a civics project?