DUXBURY — September 23, 2026 — The Duxbury School Committee voted 5-0 September 23 to adopt the district’s 2026-2029 Strategic Plan, the document administrators said will steer the FY28 budget and each school’s improvement plan. The committee also approved its own goals and the superintendent’s goals, and heard that new state medication rules will likely bring a request for more nursing staff.
The Full Story
The adopted version reflected changes from a summer workshop. The superintendent said the mission, vision and values were unchanged, but the “theory of action” became a “theory of change,” intended outcomes were rewritten so they no longer read as actions, key performance indicators were made measurable, and summaries were moved to follow each initiative. Language on executive functioning was added at a committee member’s request.
“The strategic plan is the north star for the district when we’re looking at how we’re creating our budget,” said Superintendent Danielle Klingaman. School Committee member Kathryn Marshall said many of the plan’s indicators call for improvement and asked that presentations include a baseline to measure against. Dr. Erin Wiesehahn, Assistant Superintendent, said much of the first year’s work is setting those baselines.
Dr. Klingaman also presented a draft year-one action plan, which the committee will take up at its next meeting. It includes building “portrait of a learner” profiles for each school; end-of-course assessments at the high school, now that MCAS is no longer a graduation requirement; a new AI and technology committee that will seek parent, community and committee members; an audit of health, SEL and executive functioning instruction; a look at homework and grading; a “portrait of an educator”; and more non-evaluative coaching walkthroughs. The superintendent said the district’s 183-day calendar has cut professional development time, and that the district wants a five-to-10-year capital plan for its buildings beyond the Alden School.
The committee approved its own 2026-2027 goals by voice vote after trimming a performance indicator and adding language on monitoring MASC legislative updates. It approved the superintendent’s and assistant superintendent’s goals, also by voice vote. Those four goals commit the district to establishing baselines and documenting growth for students with IEPs, 504 plans, English learners and low-income students by June 2027, and to completing year-one planning and feasibility milestones for building projects. The committee voted 5-0 to approve its 2026-2027 agenda calendar, which Chair Matt Gambino had mapped against the strategic plan.
District curriculum supervisors presented 2025-2026 results. On i-Ready math, about 78% of students in grades 1 through 8 met grade-level expectations, flat for three years. Chandler and Alden were at about 83% and 85%, while the middle school held at about 68% or 69%, which Dr. Wiesehahn called an area for growth. At the middle school, 25% of students with IEPs reached the math benchmark last year, up from 18% the year before. Reading held around 80% district-wide. At the high school, 375 students were enrolled in AP classes and 84% scored 3 or higher; 43 students earned the Seal of Biliteracy, 15 with distinction. All eight English learners met their state target, and four met exit criteria.
Diane Mehegan, Curriculum Supervisor World Language & English Learner Supervisor, said 14 middle school students with perfect or near-perfect MCAS scores had been excused from the spring i-Ready diagnostic, which affects the reported results. The elementary grades will move to an updated edition of their math program, and the middle school is in its third year of Illustrative Math. Asked by Gambino whether that program is working, Mike Murray, STEM Curriculum Supervisor, said it is.
