Chicopee School Committee approves superintendent's 2025–26 goals

The Chicopee School Committee unanimously approved Superintendent Dr. Marcus Ware’s five strategic goals for the 2025–26 school year following a presentation and committee questions.

Dr. Marcus Ware, superintendent of Chicopee Public Schools, told the committee the goals align with the district strategic priorities and include measurable targets to be reached by June 30, 2026. “By 06/30/2026, 100% of our schools will implement a school‑level effort to promote the core values, belonging, joy, respect, and growth,” he said. He outlined five goal areas: caring, respectful places to learn; empowering and valuing students and staff; academics that inspire; family and community connections; and effective operations and equitable resources.

The goals include specific, quantifiable targets. For academics, Ware said the district will “increase the percentage of students engaged for learning, student choice, technology‑rich experiences, and raise student academic growth in ELA [English language arts] and mathematics by 5% as measured by internal benchmark systems.” For attendance he set a target to reduce chronic absenteeism districtwide (a 1 percentage‑point reduction overall and 1.5 percentage points for students with disabilities and multi‑language learners). He also proposed a 20% increase in family and community engagement and a comprehensive resource‑equity audit and a three‑year resource allocation plan under the effective operations goal.

Committee members asked for baseline numbers and for clarity about how internal benchmarks will relate to MCAS results. Dr. Ware said baseline metrics and the internal benchmark data will be provided to the committee in coming weeks and stressed that the district will rely on more frequent internal assessments rather than waiting for annual MCAS results. He told members the district will use Panorama survey data and other instruments and will aim for a 10% increase in self‑reported sense of belonging among students and staff.

Grace Scofield, a school committee member, moved to accept the goals. The motion passed on a roll call vote of 12–0.

What the vote means: the committee accepted Ware’s targets and monitoring plan; implementation steps described in the presentation include a December baseline survey, audits of school practices in January, professional development for inclusive pedagogy and culturally responsive practices, expanded student leadership councils, audit work on budget and resource allocation, and mid‑year and end‑of‑year reporting to the committee.

Dr. Ware said the district will report progress in February and at mid‑year checkpoints and will provide the committee with the specific benchmark measures and the district’s current baseline data.

The committee’s acceptance formalizes the superintendent’s year‑long performance targets and charges district staff with returning data and progress reports to the committee.