Cambridge School Committee Elects Incumbent David Weinstein as First Elected Chair

The Cambridge School Committee elected David J. Weinstein, a three-term incumbent, to serve as its first elected chair since 1940, defeating Elizabeth C. P. Hudson in a 5-2 vote at the committee’s inaugural meeting on Monday.

Weinstein is tasked with leading a largely inexperienced School Committee, with half of the members having just been elected to their first terms. Weinstein will serve alongside Vice Chair Caitlin E. Dube ’05, a first-term member.

While Hudson and Richard Harding Jr. — the committee's two other incumbent members — supported Hudson for chair, Weinstein will lead the School Committee with the backing of a majority of members.

“I really am honored to have been selected by my colleagues to be chair,” Weinstein said in an interview. “I both see it as an important responsibility of service and as a real honor.”

Weinstein’s election follows the passage of a city charter amendment last fall that removed the mayor’s de facto chairship. While the mayor remains a member of the School Committee, the chair presides over meetings and sets agendas.

“This is a particularly good opportunity for us to look back at our rules and think together and consult with others about ways that we might seek to modify our rules in ways that we believe will help the committee to function more effectively,” Weinstein said.

Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui — the only member of the City Council to sit on the School Committee — said she anticipates her role shifting toward collaboration and coordination with the board. Siddiqui chaired the School Committee during her last mayoral term from 2020 to 2024.

“The mayor’s role on the School Committee as a member will still be centered on collaboration,” Siddiqui said, adding that it includes “keeping the City Council and School Committee informed and aligned through regular updates.”

Siddiqui said she expects to serve as a liaison between city and school leadership. She pointed to the Cambridge preschool program as an example of overlapping city and school priorities and said families often experience the two systems as interconnected.

“This connection is particularly important because we have so much shared work and shared initiatives,” she said. “Families experience both our city and school systems as connected rather than siloed.”

Weinstein said the School Committee will focus on setting a clear direction for its work in the coming weeks, with one of its early priorities being the development of a strategic plan.

“That process will involve the Committee coming together and deciding what those priorities are, and what the sequencing of those priorities should be,” Weinstein said.

But Weinstein also noted the immediate issues facing the School Committee, pointing to upcoming budget negotiations and decisions over the future of the Kennedy-Longfellow School building, which the School Committee unanimously voted to close last December.

Superintendent David G. Murphy, who was permanently appointed by the School Committee last October, emphasized stability and cooperation as the School Committee begins its term in a Wednesday statement.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to work with both incumbent and incoming School Committee members and remain appreciative for the confidence they have in our team,” Murphy wrote. “Our singular mission remains unchanged: we are committed to our students, to improving their educational experiences and to putting them in positions to succeed.”

—Staff writer Tess E. Sumner can be reached at [email protected].