Wachusett superintendent outlines improvement plan, to post curriculum after Supreme Court ruling
Summary
Superintendent Dr. Riley told the Wachusett Regional School District Committee that federal grants arrived and the district will post its curriculum catalog following guidance after Mahmoud v. Taylor; he reviewed progress on the district improvement plan and priorities for the 2025–26 school year.
Dr. Riley, the district superintendent, said Tuesday that recent federal grant awards arrived and that the administration will recommend using some unexpected state aid to reduce member-town assessments for FY26. He also told the Wachusett Regional School District Committee the district will post curriculum catalogs on school and district websites following legal guidance after the Supreme Court decision in Mahmoud v. Taylor.
"We have received guidance from the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents, and we are making sure that we're going to be in full compliance with that decision," Dr. Riley said, adding that the district is working with its attorney to draft accommodation protocols and handbook language for the coming school year.
Why it matters: Public posting of curriculum materials is intended to make classroom content and instructional materials more accessible to families. Dr. Riley said the district's curriculum and classroom practice will remain unchanged and that posting materials is part of legal compliance and transparency.
Dr. Riley gave a broad update on the district's District Improvement Plan (DIP), saying the district is in the second year of implementing its strategic plan and that measurable improvements from new curricula may take another year or two to appear in assessment data. He thanked staff and member towns for recent budget support and described the current phase of work as challenging but necessary.
Key initiatives described by administration include K–5 adoption of a new ELA curriculum that affected nearly 3,000 students, district-wide time-on-content guidelines to equalize instructional minutes across elementary schools, rollout of MyCAP and School Links for grades 6–12 to support postsecondary planning, the addition of STEAM teachers with Project Lead The Way units, and expansion of dual enrollment and early college partnerships (including work with Anna Maria College).
Administration representatives also summarized tools to support student success and MTSS work, describing a district-level student-data platform that brings SEL, attendance, discipline, MCAS and benchmark data into a single view to inform interventions and family conferences.
On facilities and planning, Dr. Riley said the district is working with the Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission (CMRPC) on a Phase 2 facilities study and expects a preliminary report in late fall. He described recent facility tours and recent town investments in school projects over the last three years as evidence of progress.
What’s next: Administration plans to release the strategic plan and the current and prior year DIP goals on a single district website page before the next school committee meeting and will present a fuller capital improvement plan to the facilities subcommittee and the full committee after completing tours and collecting town feedback.
