The school committee covered MCAS assessment data, the Gossels Fund for Academic Excellence, the superintendent’s evaluation, and the Loker Music Pilot at its Oct. 14 meeting.
While the MCAS are no longer used as a graduation requirement, Assistant Superintendent Betsy Gavron said all schools met state performance benchmarks and the district remains in the state’s highest accountability category. English language arts results for grades three through eight remained relatively stable, while 10th-grade scores declined in the first year MCAS was no longer required for graduation.
Fewer 10th-graders took the test, Gavron said, although district enrollment also declined and she had not calculated whether participation fell proportionally. Federal law still requires testing in grades three through eight and once in high school.
The district earned four of four available accountability points for chronic absenteeism for the second consecutive year after earning zero of four two years earlier. Average daily attendance was 96 percent, average absences fell to 7.2 days per student and the chronic absenteeism rate was 5.8 percent.
Students with individualized education programs continued to show achievement gaps. Gavron said 35% met or exceeded expectations in English language arts and 40% did so in math. She cautioned that some demographic subgroups were too small for reliable comparisons.
The committee unanimously approved expenditures from the Gossels Fund, established in 1990 by longtime residents Elaine and Warner Gossels. The proposals include a fifth-grade scientist-in-residence program, an after-school science club, 10 MacBooks for high school student journalists, a middle school student council, and support for music and broadcasting programs. The total expenditure was not stated during the meeting.
Members accepted a $20,000 Adolescent Health Survey implementation grant for continued high school work based on the 2025 MetroWest Adolescent Health Survey.
The committee deferred approval of Superintendent David Fleishman’s annual goals until its second meeting in November and left the 2027 high school graduation date unchanged at Friday, June 4, with June 5 as the rain date.
During the public comment period, WaylandCAN’s Joseph Hardie addressed the discontent related to the Loker Music Pilot and requested that the district develop objective measures to evaluate the pilot.
