IN THE NEWS
Haverhill School Committee Slows Budget Priority Planning as Members Debate List
January 12, 2025
A Haverhill School Committee exercise to better align next year’s spending with educational priorities will get another review later this month after members debated details such as staffing and soliciting student opinions...
...Member Jill Story argued the proposal should place greater emphasis on students, including a focus on class sizes and course offerings to accomplish the district’s goals of academic excellence and improving the student learning experience.
“What is really evident to me, jumping out missing, is the students,” she said. “This is the least student-centered document I’ve seen. I don’t see anything about rigor. We talk about academic excelling. It’s all about the staff which are important, but where are the students?”
She added, “Readiness for careers and citizenship. Where is the list of the opportunities, literacy, where are the students, engagement, where are the students? So, I think the first four things, I see no students in there. For me, this needs a lot of work and revision to be student-centered.”
Haverhill School Leaders Share Thoughts on Upcoming MCAS Ballot Question
October 14, 2024
Haverhill School Committee members recently gave their takes on a ballot question in November which would, if passed, remove the graduation requirement for the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System—or MCAS.
Several members, including such as Vice Chairman Paul A. Magliocchetti, Erica Diaz and Jill Story said they are voting yes on the initiative, which removes the test’s graduation requirement...
...Member Jill Story said she supports removing the graduation requirement, but said she supports MCAS as a standard, noting “I think it’s a great tool for measuring whether or not students are mastering standards.”