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Middleborough outlines expanded student services, new bullying-intake process and changes to evening school
Summary
District student services described new clinical teams, PBIS rollout, a revised bullying-intake form and flowchart, partnerships for clinical counseling, and significant compliance and sustainability questions about the Community Evening School (CSSE) that will require program redesign or funding changes.
The Middleborough School Committee heard a broad update from the district's student services director on clinical teams, prevention programs and changes to how the district handles bullying and alternative-education offerings.
"We have established a comprehensive mental health folder and ... a detailed step-by-step process on threat assessments," Director Avable told the committee, describing new coordination among building administrators, training for Title IX coordinators and an upload system so incident records follow students between buildings.
Avable said the district has expanded PBIS initiatives at the elementary level, launched restorative alternatives for discipline and partnered with outside providers (Community Counseling of Bristol County) to increase access to clinical counseling in schools. The district also offers Care Solace for staff and has run community-facing events on substance use and school avoidance.
A central administrative focus was a revised bullying-intake form and an investigation checklist paired with a flowchart intended to improve consistency and timeliness of investigations. Avable said the draft form and flowchart will be posted for community feedback and the final plan published by May 1.
Separately, administrators reported compliance problems with the Community Evening School (CSSE) / night school program. The program had been coded inconsistently in state reporting and at times charged Middleborough residents tuition, which raised FAPE (free appropriate public education) concerns. The district eliminated tuition for Middleborough residents this year, stopped enrolling out-of-district students and is working to meet state instructional-hour, data-reporting and program classification requirements.
"We can no longer run it two days a week and still be in compliance with State regs," Director Avable said, noting that remaking the program to meet state rules without a substantial operating-budget increase could be challenging.
Administrators described an alternative pathway, the Futures Academy, which the district hopes to expand using a competency-based model that would allow flexible pacing, studio-style instruction and a stronger school-to-work component. The district said Futures Academy could grow from roughly 30 students toward 40 if staffing and scheduling adjustments are adopted.
Next steps: the district will post the draft bullying plan for community input, continue to pilot the intake/checklist process, and evaluate sustainable options to restructure CSSE or expand Futures Academy while ensuring state compliance.
