Menu

Wakefield School District committee meeting, Sep 22, 2026

1 h 42 min · 0 public speakers

This board doesn’t post agenda times. Click a board member to jump to where they first speak; we list only members whose voice our check named. Video length 1 h 42 min.

  1. Who spoke · first speaks at
What happened

What happened at this meeting

Wakefield School Committee approves school improvement plans for 2026⁠-⁠2027 1:31:14

  • A district finance staff member told the committee that circuit breaker reimbursement was $2.3 million last year and will be $3.2 million for '27, and that revolving accounts are back to pre-pandemic numbers. 9:16
  • Principals from the pre-K, elementary and secondary schools presented school improvement plans covering quality teaching, curriculum and individualized student learning, including attendance. 35:10
  • The committee unanimously approved the school improvement plans for 2026⁠-⁠2027 and Policy ACL, the Protect Act. 1:31:14
Item by item (13)
  1. Opening and consent agenda 6:46
    • No one was seen in the studio or online for public comment. 6:46
    • Melissa Quinn moved to approve the minutes of the September 8th, 2026 meeting and accept the minutes of the August 24th, 2026 policy and communications subcommittee meeting. 7:43
    • The motion passed unanimously. 7:55
  2. Financial reports 8:10
    • A staff member said free and reduced numbers for fiscal '27 are higher than they have ever been and that homeless out-of-district transportation went from 4 to 9 in one year. 8:14
    • The staff member said revolving accounts used as an offset will only help through fiscal '27, making it a much tighter year financially. 9:16
    • Asked how the free and reduced lunch increase affects the budget, the staff member said over 40 students qualified for free meals in one year and qualify for discounts on district services. 14:25
  3. Payroll warrants 19:48
    • A motion was made to approve payroll warrants number 7 and number 9. 19:55
    • The motion passed unanimously. 20:00
  4. Superintendent remarks 20:17
    • The superintendent said district leaders met with the town administrator and team to discuss the budget calendar and revenue. 20:18
    • The superintendent said the high school is using a new student schedule that will be needed in the new building. 21:04
    • The superintendent said the district will work with school resource officers to send a letter on e-bike and scooter safety. 22:16
  5. Introduction of new staff 23:46
    • Principals introduced new teachers and staff at their schools. 23:46
    • The pre-K principal said 5 new teachers were hired this year, all with special education experience. 24:17
  6. Secondary school improvement plans 33:40
    • High school and middle school principals presented goals on quality teaching, curriculum alignment and inclusive learning environments. 35:10
    • A principal said the high school implemented a flex block in which students use software called SmartPass to sign up to see teachers. 49:46
    • A principal said new teachers are observed at least 4 times a year and professional status teachers at least 2 times a year under the contract. 54:30
  7. Pre-K school improvement plan 59:29
    • The pre-K principal said goals include teachers observing one another and strengthening vertical alignment with elementary schools. 1:00:00
    • Stephen Ingalls asked whether the vertical alignment work started at schools that already have pre-K classes. 1:04:56
    • The principal said the idea came from principal professional development time. 1:05:13
  8. Elementary school improvement plans 1:06:42
    • An elementary principal said the attendance goal aims for consistent communication with families before students become chronically absent, defined as 18 or more days. 1:14:27
    • Alexander Naumann asked whether schools use school-wide Tier 1 attendance initiatives, and a principal said incentives had not been discussed yet. 1:17:55
    • Kevin Fontanella asked about the elementary attendance trend, and a staff member said it was holding steady at probably 95-plus percent. 1:29:28
  9. Vote on school improvement plans 1:31:14
    • Melissa Quinn moved to approve the school improvement plans as presented for 2026⁠-⁠2027. 1:31:14
    • The motion passed unanimously. 1:31:36
  10. Policy and communications subcommittee report 1:31:48
    • Melissa Quinn said the subcommittee heard an update on the Youth Risk Behavior Survey and moved to approve Policy ACL, the Protect Act. 1:31:48
    • Melissa Quinn moved to lay on the table EEAEA, bus driver examination training, and JKAA, physical restraint, seclusion, and timeouts, noting the state no longer requires bus drivers to be tested for tuberculosis. 1:33:07
    • Policy ACL was approved unanimously, and the motion to lay the other policies on the table passed unanimously. 1:33:02
  11. Labor and personnel subcommittee report 1:35:26
    • Stephen Ingalls said the subcommittee met to discuss upcoming negotiations with the Wakefield Educators Association and that talks may not begin in earnest until the new year. 1:35:30
  12. Student services subcommittee report 1:36:42
    • Alexander Naumann said the subcommittee plans to meet next Monday at 5 o'clock to discuss attendance data and work with multilingual learners. 1:36:45
    • A staff member said the absence failure policy is not likely to change this year. 1:38:14
  13. Liaison reports, future items and adjournment 1:38:47
    • The next scheduled meeting is Tuesday, October 13th, 7 PM. 1:39:18
    • Requested future agenda items included district IT security measures to protect student data and an update on fall activities and the impact of fees. 1:39:32
    • The meeting was adjourned. ~1:41:03

Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.

Other meetings

Other meetings of this board

Video: posted by the district as “Wakefield School Committee Meeting - September 22nd, 2026”