Freetown-Lakeville school committee reviews enrollment data, approves multiple grants, policies and donations

The Freetown-Lakeville Regional School Committee met Aug. 20, 2025, and heard a detailed update on district enrollment trends and the interim superintendent’s three goals for the year, then voted on a series of grants, donations, policy changes and surplus declarations.

Interim Superintendent Dr. Barbara Stockey opened the substantive portion of the meeting by presenting three goals for the 2025–26 year: create a three-year multiyear budget projection process, review and improve human-resources systems, and implement a consistent schedule of school and classroom visits across all grade levels. Dr. Stockey said the formative evaluation of those goals will occur in November 2025 and the summative evaluation in March 2026.

Why it matters: the multiyear budget projection is intended to surface recurring nonpersonnel expenses (for example, multi-year textbook subscriptions) so the district can plan more predictably and align resources to priorities.

Enrollment and next steps Dr. Stockey and district staff presented month-by-month enrollment tracking and a five-year lookback, noting an overall decline across Massachusetts and local declines in some grades. For example, kindergarten enrollment fell from 207 in 2021 to a low of 172 in 2023–24, though the district has seen a recent uptick; the superintendent also flagged a 10-student drop from fifth to sixth grade at one point and a 10-student increase into 12th grade year over year as items warranting follow-up.

The district reported 79 students from 35 families currently registered as homeschooled. Staff said the district will continue to collect older datasets (five to 10 years) and consider entrance/exit…