At Thursday’s School Committee meeting, vice chair Susan Stephenson responded to public concern regarding her meeting attendance and remote participation in recent months.
Stephenson, who attended Thursday’s meeting in person, explained that she has been undergoing treatment for two types of cancer since late summer/early fall. She noted that a recent PET scan from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute indicated her cancers are “virtually gone.”
However, Stephenson said she potentially faces a “gruesome surgery” on her esophagus, which may force her to resign from the committee in the future.
“Hopefully, that will explain to the concerned citizens Hopkinton why I have not been here in person for the past few months,” she said.
Stephenson thanked her fellow committee members and district administrators for maintaining confidentiality at her request, adding, “That speaks volumes about their personal and professional values.”
School Committee chair Kyla McSweeney said she values all members of the committee, saying they bring “unique perspectives.” Stephenson, she noted, has insights as a former classroom teacher and has been in constant contact with her throughout her illness, “including texting me from the hospital.”
She also has been participating in School Committee matters and as its liaison “not in public view.”
Member Nancy Cavanaugh echoed that Stephenson did not miss a meeting during an “obviously difficult time in [her] life personally.” She urged community members having questions and concerns about any members to communicate directly with them via the district’s website.
Susan, I am sorry you have been entrenched in battling these horrible cancers and wishing you speedy recovery.
Thank you Susan for all the years you’ve given to the Town of Hopkinton. Coming to town and sharing your wealth of experience with us. Stay strong Susan. I wish you nothing but the best my friend and fellow dog lover
Susan, thank you for summoning the courage to speak publicly about your battle with cancer. I feel that during your time running for office and serving our school district you have been judged inordinately harshly by people who must surely be running out of axe to grind by now. I am confident, however, that most people respect your grace under fire and work ethic. Congratulations on your wonderful test results. I hope the remainder of your recovery goes as smoothly as possible.
I am happy to hear that Susan’s treatment is going well. I wish Susan the best. The hit piece on HopNews was heartless. That is not the way to get back at someone for losing an election to her. It is very sad.
During the school board election, I felt the information shared by HopNews about Susan’s multiple OUI’s/DUI’s and incarceration was relevant in that it made me question her judgement, personal responsibility, and ability to be a good role model for children (especially teenage drivers).
Ultimately, this knowledge also made me question her prolonged absence from the school committee. Anyone with an OUI would have been flagged on a CORI check by the district, and they would’ve likely faced employment hurdles as a teacher with multiple convictions or a felony. I believe in forgiveness, but I don’t believe she was best suited for a role on the school committee.
Every 85 seconds, someone is killed or injured by a drunk driver and many of those are children. In the US, one person dies every 39 minutes from a drunk driver and these deaths are 100% preventable. I appreciate anyone who is willing to serve, but I also understand why someone chose to write this letter to the editor.
Personal responsibility and transparency matter. The school committee chair should inform the community of the plan to cover for Ms. Stephenson’s position in her absence. I wish Ms. Stephenson the best in her recovery and fight against cancer.
Dear Hopkinton Parent bring up Susan’s DUI’s after she’s been sober for 10 years – you should be ashamed of yourself. If you truly mean you wish her well you’d have never written this. I do hope karma finds you … as it always does. 😂
There are 0% elections happening right now. You 1000% attacked a person battling cancer. You are not going to be able to deflect from that 100%. The town of Hopkinton elected Susan over you with a 35% margin. You seem to be hurt by that 24/7. 70% of the people will notice how you treat others in the next elections too. No low seems to be too low for you. The hypocrisy of asking for transparency with a troll name is 100000000 times hilarious.
My comment above was based on factual information and was not meant as a personal attack. Whoever wrote the letter to the editor on HopNews did so before the news of Susan’s cancer diagnosis was made public. It was reasonable for them to question a school committee members long absence based on prior publicly released information. This letter to the editor was met with personal attacks as was my comment above. I stand behind my original statement. I support the rights of others in town to voice different opinions and to hold public officials to high standards. I feel very strongly about the issue of drunk driving, and I feel as though it’s reasonable to hold people accountable for their choices. Again, personal responsibility matters to me. I respect the fact that others may feel differently. While I have never run for school committee, I always vote in town elections and I encourage everyone to do so.