WORCESTER – Outgoing Worcester Public Schools Superintendent Maureen Binienda is considering a run for public office in Worcester’s 2023 municipal election.
“I’m considering running for mayor, but I’m going to wait. Let’s see what happens between now and January of next year and then make that decision in January or February next year,” Binieda told ThisWeekinWorcester.com on Thursday.
Mayor Joe Petty is running for the 1st Worcester state Senate seat left open by retiring state Senator Harriette L. Chandler. If Petty wins the senate seat this fall, he has said previously he would likely step down as mayor for the remainder of his term. Robyn Kennedy, associate director of the YWCA, is running against Petty for the state Senate seat.
If Binienda should run and win the mayoral election in 2023, she would also replace Petty as chair of the Worcester School Committee.
Binienda was appointed to superintendent in 2016, after the tenure of former superintendent Melinda J. Boone. Binienda served for two separate three-year contracts until the school committee declined to renew her contract for a third time in 2021.
Binienda has served as an employee of the Worcester School District for 46 years, after being hired as a special education teacher in 1976. During her tenure in office, she oversaw the school district’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the construction of the new South High School and Dorothy Memorial High.
Binienda’s current contract is set to expire on June 30, 2022. Dr. Rachel H. Monárrez will become the new superintendent on July 1. Monárrez, previously the deputy superintendent of the San Bernardino School District in California, was chosen after a nationwide search by the Worcester School Committee.
With her retirement looming, Binienda said she will continue to stay civically engaged.
“I’d like to stay active in the issues in our community and try to make some positive change,” said Bineinda. “I could be thinking of maybe a run for some political office at some point.”
In the meantime, Binienda plans to take her first summer off without working for public schools in 46 years and catch up on gardening.
Binienda said, “This summer, I planted that extra-large vegetable garden and extra flower garden.”
