Brookline School Committee News

The School Committee met on Thursday, November 6. In addition to reaching agreement with Interim Superintendent Wong on a new contract to retain her as the school district’s leader through June, 2030, the School Committee spent a considerable amount of time discussing calendar options for the 2026-2027 school year. The calendar options included student start dates before and after Labor Day, possible removal of the current school closures for Category I holidays, possible school closure on the day before Thanksgiving, and a proposal to maintain the Category I holidays on a rotating basis. All calendars and proposals considered by the Committee on November 6 are available here. The School Committee was in agreement that school for students should start before Labor Day in September 2026, which removes Option A and Option B from consideration. The School Committee expects to vote on one of the remaining four options (Option C, Option D, Option E or Option F) at their next meeting on Thursday, November 13.

Last week’s meeting included a comprehensive enrollment report, including the preliminary October 1 FY26 enrollment figures. Staff reported that current K-12 enrollment stands at 6,949 students which is 74 fewer students than last year, with the decline concentrated in grades K-5.

An annual presentation on the results of the spring 2025 MCAS tests was shared with the School Committee. The presentation included a district overview, grade span snapshots, connections to the PSB Strategic Plan, and important overall take-aways and next steps.

The School Committee finalized their annual Budget Guidelines document at the November 6 meeting. This document will support staff as they develop the FY27 Budget Request. The final FY27 Budget Guidelines document, as voted, is available here.

The School Committee is scheduled to meet on Thursday, November 13, Thursday, December 4, and Thursday, December 18. The schedule of all School Committee regular meetings (and subcommittee meetings) is available on the Town's agenda center. As each meeting approaches, the agenda and supporting documents are uploaded. Meeting agendas will always include the time, location, method of remote access, and (for regular meetings) details for public comment. Meeting recordings and meeting documents are also posted on the School Committee's meeting materials page.

If you would like to receive meeting agendas as soon as they are publicly available, sign-up through the Town’s Agenda Center. Log-in, click the “subscriptions” button, and toggle the School Committee option. You can use this feature to receive meeting notices for any of the Town’s public boards and commissions.

• The Finance and Capital Projects Subcommittee will meet on Wednesday, November 12, at 5:00pm. Click here for the agenda.

• The Communications Working Group will meet on Friday, November 14 at 3:00pm. The agenda will be posted here as soon as it’s available.

• Next Tuesday, November 18, the Policy and Curriculum Subcommittee will hold a joint meeting to review the district’s proposed Competency Determination (CD). The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education requires each district to vote on a new CD following the 2024 ballot referendum that removed MCAS as a graduation requirement. The agenda will be posted here as soon as it’s available.

Agendas and related documents for all subcommittee meetings are made available on the School Committee's meeting materials page.