Webster School Committee approves updated handbooks, school improvement plans and surplus of high‑school furniture

The Webster School Committee on Monday approved a slate of handbooks and school improvement plans for the coming year, voted to declare hundreds of high‑school furniture items surplus for disposal under state procurement law, and adopted modest changes to athletic eligibility rules.

The committee approved updated student handbooks for Bartlett High School, Webster Middle School and Park Avenue Elementary after principals reviewed revisions aimed at attendance, discipline and instructional clarity. In separate votes the board also approved Bartlett High's program of studies, the coaching handbook and each school's improvement plan.

At Bartlett High, administrators presented changes to tardy and truancy policies. The handbook now allows students who attend assigned Saturday school to recover up to 75% of missed assignment credit, and establishes a social‑probation progression for repeated tardies — calendar‑day blocks of restricted privileges after multiple tardy incidents. Bartlett's improvement plan sets measurable goals for academics and attendance, including an overall attendance increase target and reductions in chronic absenteeism, and adds a districtwide “safe and supportive schools” objective that seeks a 10% reduction in behavioral incidents and suspensions.

"Social probation put into place ... we saw the numbers go down," Bartlett High presenter Ms. Davis said, describing the shift away from using Saturday school solely as a punitive response to tardiness and toward targeted interventions to recover credit and support students. The improvement plan also calls for weekly attendance‑committee reviews, tiered interventions and individual recovery plans for students at risk of losing credit due to chronic absences.

Webster Middle School's plan reconfigures instruction to better deliver tier‑2 and tier‑3 supports: teachers will structure long class blocks into 60 minutes of core instruction and a 30‑minute period for targeted interventions, with the goal of creating a path to co‑teaching and more inclusive classroom supports. The middle school also will use universal screening for social‑emotional needs and expand family communication and engagement activities.

At Park Avenue Elementary, the principal highlighted PBIS alignment, changes to lunch/recess procedures piloted last year, and updates to transportation, volunteer and dress‑code guidance intended to avoid discriminatory language and emphasize supports for students in need. Park Avenue's improvement plan focuses on early literacy priorities (DIBELS, oral‑reading fluency), evidence‑based tiered interventions and expanded family curriculum nights.

The board approved a coaching handbook that removes an eligibility restriction tied to grade promotion so students who have not yet been formally promoted may still participate in fall sports. The committee also voted to declare just over 700 furniture items from Bartlett High School surplus and authorized the superintendent and finance director to dispose of them by auction, donation or recycling consistent with Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 30B.

Board members praised the principals and district staff for the volume of work completed on short notice and asked school leaders to add clearer numeric targets and baseline survey data to some improvement plan measures before year‑end reporting. Several trustees emphasized the need for ongoing monitoring — for example, tracking the percentage of students receiving interventions and setting explicit targets for year‑over‑year gains in grade‑level proficiency.

The committee handled routine business including approval of minutes and warrants, thanked staff for their work, and adjourned.