Mass. Early Education and Care commissioner to step down

The leader of the Massachusetts Early Education and Care [EEC] department has announced she's resigning.

Samantha Aigner-Treworgy has served as EEC commissioner since 2019, though state officials say she'll be most known for her leadership through the COVID-19 pandemic, which spanned much of her two-and-a-half year tenure. Her last day is March 8.

“We are very supportive of the Commissioner’s bold strategic vision and are deeply grateful for her tireless leadership during the COVID-19 health crisis,” state Education Secretary Jim Peyser said in a written statement.

Aigner-Treworgy did not specify a reason for her departure. In a written statement she said serving as the EEC department leader has been the honor of her career.

“Leading EEC at a time when child care has played such a critical role for the Commonwealth has been challenging and extremely rewarding from the first moments of the pandemic when we opened emergency child care for the families of first-responders, medical personnel, and other essential workers, so children could safely remain in care,” she wrote.

In addition to leading the process of opening emergency child care during the early days of the pandemic, Aigner-Treworgy also helped to launch a statewide childcare COVID testing initiative and was part of the strategic planning process behind a childcare infrastructure grant program.