Community Update

Welcome to Community Update #2! Here’s a look at key highlights since November.

Last month, this update went out to parents/guardians and staff — and now we’re excited to share it with MHS students and anyone in the community who signed up to follow along. If you have friends or neighbors who might want to stay in the loop about what’s happening in our schools, feel free to pass it along. They can subscribe using the button below!

~Melissa Clucas & Henry Gwazda, Communications Subcommittee

• Past community updates

• School Committee YouTube channel (meeting recordings)

• School Committee website (agendas, materials, policies & more)

• Marblehead town calendar (upcoming meetings)

• Contact us: schoolcommittee@marbleheadschools.org

After a competitive bidding process, the School Committee unanimously voted to award the MHS roof and HVAC replacement contract to Homer Contracting Inc. for $8.97 million—coming in about $2.1 million under budget. The bid provides fixed pricing for a full roof recovering along with HVAC, plumbing, and electrical upgrades, marking real progress toward addressing the long-standing roof and building systems issues at MHS. The plan is for most of the construction to take place over the summer, with substantial completion expected before October 2026.

The path to an approved FY27 budget is now mapped out, and you can see the high-level timeline here. Our administrative team has been working closely with the town finance director, and the School Committee Budget Subcommittee has been doing the same with FinCom, to make sure everyone is aligned. Preliminary capital requests have already been identified and submitted to the town.

Right now, the admin team is deep into reviews with the management team and has completed a staffing analysis by role at each school to help inform our planning. We’re also taking a close look at enrollment patterns over time to better understand both where we are and where we’re headed.

From here, we’ll start pulling all of these inputs together into a draft FY27 budget proposal.

This year, the School Committee’s goals focus on strengthening how we plan for the future, how we listen to educators and families, how we explain the school budget, and how we use data to guide decisions and share the story of our district’s progress. We’ll continue to keep the community updated as we move forward on each of these. At a high level, our goals include:

• Strategic Planning & High-Level Oversight — Clarifying the “swim lanes” between the School Committee and the Superintendent, and strengthening the district’s long-term planning practices and framework.
• Elevating Educator Voices & Stakeholder Representation — Creating more opportunities for educators and other key stakeholders to share their perspectives and help shape district direction and practice.
• Financial Transparency & Budget Education — Making the budget easier to understand through clearer materials and open, accessible conversations with the community.
  
• Data-Driven Decision-Making — Using data more consistently in our decisions and communications so the community has a clearer picture of district progress.

🔴 Facilities Subcommittee ⚫

SC members: Henry Gwazda (Chair), Jennifer Schaeffner

The new roof on the MVMS D-wing has significant installation issues, including blocked drainage that caused water damage inside the building. The district hasn’t paid the contractor and is pushing for the full replacement we were promised, not a patch job. Our facilities team, along with a community roofing expert, is inspecting the roof this week and will recommend next steps. We’ll share updates as soon as we have more information.

We also continued the discussion on the future of the Eveleth School site, reviewing survey results from 75 community members - most with children ages 0–5. There’s clear interest in expanded early childhood options, especially full-day preschool and toddler programming, with affordability, experienced staff, and a play-based curriculum topping the priority list. At the same time, families flagged cost, scheduling, and existing childcare arrangements as key barriers.

The subcommittee agreed that more detailed planning is needed. The district will research models in other communities, consult with principals and staff, and refine a more concrete proposal before gathering additional input and making any recommendations about the long-term use of the Eveleth property.

🔴 Budget Subcommittee ⚫

SC members: Jennifer Schaeffner (Chair), Melissa Clucas
FY27 budget planning is underway. Recently, the administration walked us through a newly reorganized staffing-by-school spreadsheet—helpful for seeing where positions actually sit and how they tie to enrollment, special education needs, class-by-class staffing realities, and curriculum support. We’re looking at how all of these pieces shape the FY27 budget, while also reviewing fees, revolving accounts, and long-term facilities planning. Administration is now meeting with principals to shape the first draft of the FY27 budget, and we’ll continue the discussion on December 22.

🔴 Policy Subcommittee ⚫

SC members: Kate Schmeckpeper (Chair), Jennifer Schaeffner

We reviewed a proposed Competency Determination policy, now required by DESE since MCAS is no longer a graduation requirement. We also dug into the Support Services section of the policy manual (covering safety, transportation, and food services), where we discussed updates to 9 existing policies and introduced 5 new ones.

🔴 Communications Subcommittee ⚫

SC members: Henry Gwazda (Chair), Melissa Clucas

We formalized a process for community members to subscribe to updates and coordinated with local media so these summaries are published consistently each month. We also released the budget roadmap, which brings the Budget Subcommittee’s planning calendar to life, and we’re now developing a progress tracker to show how the School Committee is pacing against its 2025–26 goals.

🚩December 18, 2025: Policy Subcommittee meeting

🚩December 18, 2025: Full School Committee meeting

🚩December 22, 2025: Budget Subcommittee meeting

🚩January 6, 2026: Facilities Subcommittee meeting

🚩January 28 or February 4, 2028: State of the Town address

🚩February 26, 2026: FY27 school budget public hearing

Have questions or ideas for this newsletter? Email clucas.melissa@marbleheadschools.org or gwazda.henry@marbleheadschools.org, or share your thoughts in public comment at one of our open meetings.