Superintendent reports student safety and support work, MSBA enrollment milestone and interim DEI update

Superintendent Patrick Tremblay delivered a multi-part report Wednesday on student safety and support initiatives, an enrollment milestone tied to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA), and an interim staffing update for the district equity office.

Tremblay said the district has revised the code of conduct matrix to reduce repetitive categories and add examples to help implement a consistent approach across schools. He told the committee the district has "tightened up" Title IX alignment and clarified consequences for cutting class or leaving school without permission, and that the district has added explicit bus consequences, including short- and long-term suspensions and removal when warranted.

Why it matters: The district has faced public concern about student behavior and transportation safety; the updates are meant both to clarify expectations for students and to make enforcement more consistent across schools.

Key safety and support actions described: - Code of conduct revisions to simplify categories and add examples for consistent implementation. - Expanded data transparency: the superintendent said suspension data — in-school, out-of-school and bus suspensions — is now available on the district’s Transparency Center. - Bus behavior: Tremblay said the district has worked with bus drivers and provided cue cards in multiple languages as part of driver training; the district clarified bus consequence options in policy and practice. - Threat assessment: A district threat-assessment process has been deployed and will be used to convene a rapid-response support team when students show signs of crisis. - Program evaluations: Social-emotional program evaluations (including FAIR, Phoenix, RISE and TLC programs) are underway; district staff expect initial evaluation reports in March–April with implementation recommendations. - Peer mediation: The high school has launched iterations of a peer-mediation program the district piloted previously.

MSBA enrollment milestone: Tremblay reported the MSBA provided an enrollment and design certification for the Hemingway project, closing out module 1 and moving the district closer to the MSBA feasibility stage. He said the MSBA’s enrollment finding was "better than we expected" and that district leaders view the milestone as a positive step for pre-K expansion that the MSBA is supporting.

Office of Equity update: Tremblay announced that Dr. Anthony Pope resigned effective Dec. 30, 2024, for family reasons. He said the district will continue equity, inclusion and accessibility work and that department duties are being covered by existing staff while administrators consider next steps or a replacement. "DEI, diversity, equity, inclusivity, as well as accessibility continues to be a priority of this district," Tremblay said.

Questions from committee members focused on evaluation timelines, clarification on how equivalencies will be handled for special-education programs, and whether district behavior measures will be sustained. Administrators committed to follow-up briefings and to returning with implementation details where committee members requested them.

Ending: The superintendent’s report covered both operational changes and planning items; administrators said they would post the student-safety summary to the district website and return with evaluation results and any recommended policy language changes.