David Weinstein became the first elected chair of the Cambridge School Committee since 1940, besting Elizabeth Hudson by five votes to two. An updated city charter passed by voters on Election Day 2025 changed rules that had made the city’s mayor the de facto chair of the School Committee.
In a small irony, on Election Day Weinstein had appeared to have lost re-election, due to an error in the preliminary count.
After the inaugural, Weinstein told Cambridge Day “I’m excited about what we can do in Cambridge, and I’m excited to have the opportunity to take on this new role after three terms of service on this committee.”
Half the members of the School Committee are serving for the first time, since one incumbent did not run for re-election and two were not re-elected. One of the new members, Caitlin Dube, was elected vice chair of the School Committee.
Members Richard Harding and Elizabeth Hudson, the other incumbents on the committee besides Weinstein, both voted for Hudson for chair, and voted “present” for vice chair. Neither member amended their vote when member Weinstein asked for unanimous calls. The committee also voted 5-2 to adopt new rules for the 2026-27 school committee, subject to amendment, with members Luisa de Paula Santos and Caitlin Dube voting present.
Weinstein said he did not see these as problem signs for a School Committee that is developing a new strategic plan, will have to negotiate new contracts with six unions and also address what to do with the former Kennedy-Longfellow building on Spring Street. “People should vote in the way that they feel, you know, reflects … their perspective.”
He said votes of present were not unprecedented and that as chair he would work to encourage strong working relationships within the Committee.
Harding expressed optimism about the Committee’s direction, while acknowledging there was significant work to do around the union negotiations, the Spring Street building, and also devising new standards for academic accountability to replace the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System.
Optimists’ view
He said his optimism stems from Superintendent David J. Murphy being named to the position on a permanent basis. “He’s built a trust amongst most of the people that I know that interact with him on every level, from his executive learning team to the custodians, to security. People like his style and he works probably harder than anybody or as hard as anybody I know.”
It was, overall, a night of optimism. The meeting took place at the state-of-the-art Turk Auditorium in the Tobin Montessori/Darby Vassall Upper School, with inspirational speeches by former State Secretary of Education Paul Reville, a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and by Dr. Sherley Bretous, principal of Cambridge’s Benjamin Banneker Charter Public School, a K-6 school. Attendees were also treated to a performance by the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School Traveling Chorus.
Arjun Jaikumar, another new member of the committee, said he was excited about the Committee’s potential. “We’re really focused on things we can do. And I think there’s a lot of optimism right now in this new committee that we can get a lot done. I share that optimism.”
Dube said she thought that the charter change that makes the mayor no longer the automatic chair of the Committee would be a big benefit. “You’ve got a chair who doesn’t have any other responsibilities in the city. That really frees them up to focus only on the school committee.”
She said she thought the committee would be more strategic and more efficient. The committee will be back at it in less than 24 hours, when it holds its first regular meeting of the year.
Michael F. Fitzgerald contributed to this story.
The story was updated to add photos from the event.
A stronger
Please consider making a financial contribution to maintain, expand and improve Cambridge Day.
We are now a 501(c)3 nonprofit and all donations are tax deductible.
Please consider a recurring contribution.