Hingham School Committee Approves Resolutions for MASC Annual Meeting

Members vote on issues ranging from MCAS testing to funding for rural schools

HINGHAM, MA - October 21 - The Hingham School Committee voted Monday night to support several resolutions for the upcoming Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC) annual meeting, addressing topics like MCAS testing, compulsory school attendance age and funding for rural and vocational schools.

Committee members debated the merits of each resolution before casting votes on how their delegate should represent Hingham at the MASC gathering.

On the contentious issue of MCAS testing, the committee supported studying alternatives but stopped short of endorsing an immediate moratorium. Members voted to back the first two points of the MCAS resolution, which call for developing "a wider more consensus-based strategy to test students" and evaluating the current MCAS system for equity concerns.

"I would support everything on there except for the immediate moratorium," said one committee member. "I don't like taking it away without something to replace it."

The committee approved the resolution increasing the compulsory school attendance age from 16 to 18, or until high school graduation. Members noted this would have little impact in Hingham but could significantly affect urban districts with higher dropout rates.

"It would have a profound effect on where I teach," said one member who also works as an educator in another district.

On school funding, the committee backed resolutions to improve financial support for rural districts and adjust Chapter 70 education funding for inflation. Members expressed concerns about the fiscal challenges facing many school systems.

"Everybody is on that fiscal cliff now because they received the extra funds and having to navigate through that," said one committee member. "I'm personally afraid for public education going forward because if we continue to have these constraints, people will continue to move their kids out of the district."

The committee also supported resolutions on safe firearm storage education, equitable funding for transportation costs, and expanding vocational-technical program capacity.

In other business, the committee heard a presentation on recent MCAS results and Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) data. Hingham students performed well overall, with 75% of students in grades 3-8 meeting or exceeding expectations in English language arts.

"That's really something that our teachers and our reading specialists and our interventionists and our students and families should be really proud of," said the presenter.

However, some achievement gaps persisted for students with disabilities and high-needs students, particularly at the high school level. Officials said they would continue focusing on closing those gaps.

The committee also approved a pay increase for nurses in the Kids in Action program and accepted two grants - $28,652 from the state for civics education and $54,750 from the Plymouth River School PTO for enrichment programs.

The meeting concluded with the committee voting to enter executive session to discuss collective bargaining strategy.