At the February 4 School Committee Meeting there was an update on the Needham High School attendance policy pilot program as well as an update on Chronic Absenteeism in the school district. The 2025-26 school calendar was discussed and voted on. The 2025-26 Middle School and High School programs of studies were also voted on.
Superintendent Comments
- Introduction of metal trays that are now being used in the cafeterias at all 8 schools. Needham is the first district in Massachusetts to implement reusable trays. The trays are sent daily to be cleaned and sterilized then returned to the schools to be used again.
DISCUSSION ITEMS
Needham High School Attendance Policy Pilot Update
NHS Principal Aaron Sicotte and Assistant Principal Mary Kay Alessi, as well as NPS Director of Guidance 7-12 Dana Plunkett gave an update on the ongoing NHS Attendance Policy Pilot program.
- If a student misses 6 or more classes in a term, one credit is lost
- Most students are in school consistently
- Post-pandemic, absence numbers are higher, perhaps because students are listening to communication from the school about staying home when sick
- The pilot policy is more supportive of students and results in fewer credit losses compared to the old policy
- More students are missing more time but with fewer credits being lost
- There are multiple benefits to the new policy
Needham Public Schools Chronic Student Absenteeism Update
Acting Assistant Superintendent of Student Support Services Alison Coubrough-Argentieri, Director of Health Services Susannah Hann, Data Analyst & Reporting Specialist Abbie Anderson, and Director of Guidance 7-12 Dana Plunkett gave an update on chronic absenteeism in the district.
- Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing 10% or more of school days in a year, for any reason, excused or unexcused
- This data is reported to the state for grades 1-12
- Year to date, the district shows 5.9% of total students exhibiting chronic absenteeism
- Of note, low income students statistically show a higher level of chronic absenteeism; however, the data is very sensitive and few people in the district have access to it to be able to pull the data and examine it
- Abbie Anderson performed a demonstration of Open Architects, the data visualization tool that the district is using to perform powerful analysis of data
- A robust discussion followed, particularly noting that, at the high school, because attendance is calculated differently and absences are based on missing an individual class, it makes tracking some of this data more difficult, which is an area for improved consistency.
DISCUSSION/ACTION ITEMS
Revised 2025-26 School Calendar
- First day of School for grades 1-12 will be Wednesday August 27, 2025. Kindergarten & Preschool will start on Thursday August 28, 2025.
Dr. Gutekanst explained a few revisions to the proposed 2025-26 school calendar
- Adding Monday, November 10th as a no school day for students/professional development day for staff, making the Veterans’ Day weekend a 4 day weekend, which allows for an additional full week of school earlier in the fall.
- Changing PreK-8 early release days to PreK-6 only, which increases the number of hours of instruction for grades 7-8 each year.
The school calendar was approved unanimously by a 7-0-0 vote.
2025-26 Middle School and High School Programs of Study – Approved unanimously by a 7-0-0 vote.
SCHOOL COMMITTEE COMMENTS
Matt Spengler commented with a reminder of the amazing supports Needham Youth and Family Services provides to the community.
The next School Committee meeting will be on February 25, 2025 at 6:30pm.