PLYMPTON - October 27 - The Plympton School Committee voted unanimously on October 27 to recommend Ross MacPherson for appointment to fill a vacant seat on the committee, addressing a gap created when a member joined the Finance Committee and was required to resign from the school panel.
The Full Story
The Plympton School Committee convened at 5:47 p.m. on October 27, 2025, with an early start to address the vacancy created when committee member Dan left to join the Finance Committee. Under Massachusetts state law, individuals serving on finance committees cannot simultaneously hold positions on committees subject to FinCom’s budgetary oversight.
Committee Chair Jason Fraser explained that Board of Selectmen Chair Dana Smith had requested the school committee try to fill the vacancy to ensure a full committee for the remainder of the year. The position was advertised for over a month, but no candidates formally stepped forward until Ross MacPherson contacted the committee on the Thursday before the meeting.
MacPherson, a 14-year Plympton resident with two children at Dennett Elementary School, presented his qualifications to the committee. He recently completed service on the Town Properties Committee and previously served nine and a half years on the Public Safety Building Committee. For the past four years, he has led the town’s Cub Scout program and continues to work with the Boy Scout troop.
“Service is a big part of my core ethos,” MacPherson told the committee, noting that his wife has agreed he could take on one more volunteer commitment after leaving the Town Properties Committee.
The committee voted unanimously to forward MacPherson’s name to the Board of Selectmen, which has the authority to make the official appointment. If appointed, MacPherson would serve until town elections in May 2025. Should he wish to continue beyond that point, he would need to run in the regular election process.
In other business, the committee approved a memorandum of understanding with the Plympton Police Department for the school resource officer program. The MOU follows the state template and contains no substantive changes from previous years, according to Superintendent Jill Proulx.
The meeting’s most substantial agenda item was a comprehensive presentation on the district’s accountability status and recent MCAS performance data. Principal Peter Veneto, with assistance from Assistant Superintendent Dr. Tricia Clifford and Curriculum Coordinator Brian DeSantis, presented detailed results from the 2025 testing cycle.
The district received an overall classification of “not requiring assistance or intervention,” with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education determining Plympton is “making moderate progress toward targets” with a progress percentage of 40%. The district’s accountability percentile stands at 69%, indicating performance relative to other schools serving similar grades.
In English Language Arts, Plympton showed significant improvement in several grade levels. The most dramatic gains came in Grade 5, which jumped from 43% of students meeting or exceeding expectations in 2024 to 64% in 2025—a 21-percentage-point increase. Grade 4 also showed improvement, rising from 53% to 60%. However, Grade 6 experienced a decline from 52% to 42%, well below the district’s 70% goal.
The district’s overall ELA performance for grades 3-6 was 58% meeting or exceeding expectations, with individual grade breakdowns showing Grade 3 at 69%, Grade 4 at 60%, Grade 5 at 64%, and Grade 6 at 42%. Committee members expressed concern about the persistent underperformance in Grade 6.
Mathematics results presented a more challenging picture, with overall scores declining slightly from the previous year. The district achieved 51% of students meeting or exceeding expectations across grades 3-6 in 2025, down from previous years. Grade 3 scored 58%, Grade 4 at 35%, Grade 5 at 54%, and Grade 6 at 63%. Particularly concerning was the increase in students “not meeting expectations” in several grade levels.
Committee member Rob Montgomery questioned the mathematics performance: “What jumps out at me here is the not meeting. The red, right? Fifteen. Three times higher than any other year” in reference to Grade 5’s 15% not meeting expectations.
Science, Technology and Engineering results remained relatively stable, with 65% of students meeting or exceeding expectations, consistent with historical performance in the high 50s to high 60s range.
Dr. Clifford explained the district’s multi-faceted approach to improvement, emphasizing that meaningful change typically requires at least five years. “There are two main levers that we can use,” she said. “One is what we’re teaching, making sure what we’re teaching is aligned. And the second thing is how we teach it. Are we using the right instructional methods for the right children?”
The improvement strategies include continuing Orton-Gillingham training for special education teachers to improve phonics instruction and reading fluency, implementing a district literacy plan created in March 2025, conducting a core program review for grades K-6, and providing professional development focused on the science of reading. The district secured a $133,000 grant from the Department of Education specifically for literacy improvement in Plympton, funding professional development, curriculum costs, and teacher committee work beyond contractual hours.
For mathematics, the district is in year one of implementing the new HMH program district-wide. Support includes two days of coaching from HMH consultants who will conduct classroom observations and model lessons. The district has established grade-level team leaders who meet monthly with administrators to ensure consistency and vertical alignment across all schools.
Curriculum Coordinator Brian DeSantis highlighted a significant challenge with Grade 6, noting the grade level currently uses a unit-based curriculum rather than a true adopted program. “Grade six is a unit-based grade. They’re not using the current collaborative classroom curriculum that we use, so I don’t want to give them a pass, but they don’t have a true curriculum right now,” DeSantis explained. His goal for the year is to ensure a consistent curriculum exists through sixth grade.
Committee members engaged in extensive discussion about the results, with some expressing frustration at the pace of improvement. Committee member John Wilhelmsen stated: “I feel like we have above average students with really great teachers. But our results are lackluster at best. So I’m not sure how we don’t see 30%, 40% and go, what the hell is going on?”
Superintendent Proulx cautioned that “most change takes at least five years” and emphasized the district is using multiple strategies simultaneously, including curriculum alignment, instructional methodology improvements, data analysis systems, and administrative feedback to teachers through classroom rounds.
Committee Chair Fraser acknowledged the community’s concerns but expressed confidence in the district’s direction: “Dr. Proulx has been very clear with what she’s trying to do with curriculum and instruction and has a vision, and since Dr. Clifford’s come on board, I’ve really seen that vision blossom, and I can see the sprouts, the green sprouts starting to come out.”
Fraser also emphasized the role of family engagement, noting that literacy rates are dropping partially due to decreased parental reading to children and less homework support at home. “What used to be a low-income situation, where both parents were working multiple jobs to make ends meet, and their children would suffer in school, we’re now seeing it within our middle-class and upper-middle-class communities,” he said.
Principal Veneto reported positive baseline data for the current year, noting that kindergarten fluency scores improved from 53% last fall to 65% this fall. “So that’s a very good number. So if we can get above 80, which I know we can in DIBELS, we’ll be in good shape to comprehend when we get to third grade,” Veneto said.
The district is conducting comprehensive data analysis using STAR assessments, DIBELS testing for reading fluency in grades K-2, and regular benchmark assessments. Veneto emphasized that MCAS results rarely surprise educators because the district’s ongoing assessment systems already identify struggling students who are receiving interventions.
Dr. Clifford detailed the extensive curriculum review work underway, noting the district has formed multiple committees including a K-12 ELA steering committee, a K-6 curriculum council working with consultants from The New Teacher Project on program review, and separate groups at the high school and preschool levels. The district is also in year two of math curriculum implementation while simultaneously conducting year one of ELA curriculum review.
“The sheer volume and pace is not normal,” Dr. Clifford acknowledged, praising teachers, principals and staff for “leaning into this” demanding work.
The committee also reviewed enrollment data showing Plympton increased by six students in grades K-6 compared to the previous year, reaching 255 students as of October 1. Total Plympton enrollment across all programs, including secondary and pre-K, reached 438 students, an increase of 18 students overall. These increases will impact the district’s assessment percentages, with Plympton’s share of costs rising to 11.3% for student-based assessments (up 1.3%) and 13.5% for shared costs (up 0.7%).
In budget discussions, Business Manager Sarah Hickey alerted the committee that the school’s phone system will reach end-of-life in January 2027 and must be replaced. The estimated cost of approximately $12,000 has been included in the operating budget as a capital technology item. Fraser noted the cost is actually less than what the district paid ten years ago for the voice-over-IP system currently in use.
Superintendent Proulx reported that budget meetings with Principal Veneto have begun, with the goal of presenting a “votable budget” by December. The committee discussed the need to prepare multiple budget scenarios, including a level-service budget and one constrained to a 2.5% increase that would not require a tax override.
In his legislative update, Committee Chair Fraser expressed strong concerns about federal and state funding. He criticized the potential expiration of federal nutritional assistance and the erosion of Department of Education support, noting that while Title funds came through for this year, next year remains uncertain. He pointed out that IDEA funding, which supports special education, remains historically underfunded at 14% of costs rather than the statutory 40%.
At the state level, Fraser noted that listening sessions on Chapter 70 funding are finally beginning, but called it “a day late and more than a dollar short.” Last year, over 220 Massachusetts communities received only minimal aid of $150 per student. “Two and a half percent is not going to be able to provide enough dollars for the school to maintain level services,” Fraser stated.
“This is going to be a locally controlled situation where we will present options to the voters of Plympton and Plympton is going to have to decide where its values lie,” Fraser said. “Do the values lie in funding and providing a high quality education experience to our students or are we going to have to face what cuts may have to be made here?”
The committee also approved several routine items on consent agenda, including minutes, warrants, financial reports, and surplus technology equipment. In CASA (Community and School Alliance) updates, Peter Veneto reported on recent activities including a well-attended Halloween dance, an upcoming pajama and book drive called “Beyond Bedtime” in partnership with Scholastic Books, and preparations for the annual Thanksgiving feast.
Veneto also highlighted a new partnership with Mu Han Total Martial Arts, which provided taekwondo instruction to kindergarten and first-grade students during physical education classes over recent weeks. The program will culminate in a graduation ceremony where students will break boards. Based on its success, the program may be extended to older grade levels later in the year. The instruction was provided voluntarily by the martial arts school.
Why It Matters
The appointment of Ross MacPherson ensures Plympton will have full school committee representation through the critical budget season ahead. With enrollment increasing and state and federal funding remaining uncertain, residents face potential decisions in May about whether to support funding above the 2.5% tax levy limit to maintain current educational programming. The MCAS results reveal both progress in some areas and persistent challenges in others, particularly in mathematics and sixth-grade performance, which the district is addressing through new curriculum, professional development, and instructional coaching. The significant investment in literacy improvement and the $133,000 state grant position the district for potential gains, though administrators caution meaningful improvement typically requires three to five years of sustained effort.
Meeting Minutes
Key Motions & Votes
Motion: To recommend Ross MacPherson as candidate for vacant school committee position to the Board of Selectmen for appointment through May 2025 town elections. Outcome: Approved. Vote: Unanimous. (Timestamp: 0:03:13)
Motion: To accept consent agenda including minutes, warrants, bill schedule, financial report, grants, donations, and surplus technology list. Outcome: Approved. Vote: Unanimous. (Timestamp: 0:07:02)
Motion: To authorize superintendent to sign memorandum of understanding with Plympton Police Department for school resource officer program. Outcome: Approved. Vote: Unanimous. (Timestamp: 0:08:01)
Motion: To waive reading of policy updates. Outcome: Approved. Vote: Unanimous. (Timestamp: 1:11:13)
Motion: To accept first reading of policies ADDA (Background Checks and CORI), ECAB (Access to Buildings and Grounds), EFBA (School Food and Nutrition - Meal Modifications), GBEBC (Gifts and Solicitations by Staff), JJE (Student Fundraising Activities), KBE (Relations with Parent Booster Organizations), ADG (Parent Advisory Councils), and KI (Visitors to Schools). Outcome: Approved with notation that policies JJE and KBE require review with CASA before second reading. Vote: Unanimous. (Timestamp: 1:14:10)
Motion: To adjourn. Outcome: Approved. Vote: Unanimous. (Timestamp: 1:22:36)
Public Comment
No members of the public addressed the committee during the designated public comment period.
What’s Next
The Board of Selectmen will vote on Ross MacPherson’s appointment to the school committee. The Union 31 joint school committee meeting will be held virtually on November 13 at 6:00 p.m., featuring presentations on special education programming, technology, and curriculum forecasting. The New Teacher Project consultants will visit the district during the week of November 3 to conduct classroom observations and gather data as part of the ELA curriculum review. HMH math consultants will provide two days of coaching, conducting observations and model lessons for teachers. The school committee aims to present a votable budget by December 2025. Selected policies will receive second reading after coordination with CASA regarding student fundraising activities and booster organization relationships. The district will continue comprehensive data analysis and intervention programs, with next benchmark assessments scheduled throughout the fall. Principal Veneto will host the taekwondo graduation ceremony for kindergarten and first-grade students, with potential expansion of the program to older grades.