Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 1/9/2024
SPRINGFIELD — Now in his third year on the School Committee, Josiah Gonzalez was elected as the vice chair of the committee at its organizational meeting on Jan. 2.
Gonzalez told Reminder Publishing that attaining this position was a goal and he had been approached by several of his colleagues to run.
He was nominated by the 2023 Vice Chair LaTonia Monroe Naylor and said the unanimous support he received was a “great feeling.”
As vice chair, he intends to have greater influence over the agenda of the committee as well as “bridge the gaps between my colleagues” on important issues.
The vice chair is also on the board of the Springfield Empowerment Zone Partnership, which describes it mission on its website as “Unlike traditional schools in the city, our schools are run by SEZP — a partnership between the district, state and teachers’ union — and governed by an independent board of directors. As a result, they have wide autonomy to make their own operational decisions, and they have strong accountability for their results.”
There are 15 schools in the partnership including Forest Park Middle School, Duggan Academy, Van Sickle Academy and John F. Kennedy Middle School, among others.
Gonzalez said he is proud of the work he and his colleagues did in 2023 establishing a policy for drills for critical incidents and making sure all committee meetings, including subcommittee meetings and working sessions, are broadcast and recorded.
Moving forward into 2024, he said among his priorities is to address the need brought by students for additional mental health services in the schools. He said he would be “looking at creative ways to improve [the existing services.]”
Students have called for greater access to clinicians, he explained.
His other principal issue is the continual improvement to school safety.
“We’ve got to continue to innovate our practices,” he said.
Gonzalez noted that last year the committee established a two-way radio system that links schools directly into the police dispatch center.
Gonzalez is a Springfield native who graduated from Springfield Public Schools. He earned his master’s in business administration from Fitchburg State University and is now pursuing his doctor of education degree at the University of Hartford. He is employed at Home City Development as the chief philanthropy and communications officer.