Marian A'Hearne Dyer

The strategic plan for Groton Dunstable Regional School District focuses on creating coherent learning environments that encourage curiosity and support an individualized joy of learning for all students. It aims to build a community where students are prepared to positively take action and advocate for more just schools, transferring these skills to impact the larger world. The plan emphasizes acceptance, belonging, community, and a district-wide multi-tiered system of support to achieve equitable and inclusive outcomes. Key areas include community relations, student performance, and resources, infrastructure, and the educational environment, supported by systems such as communication, supervision and evaluation, curriculum, data-based decision making, professional development, and culture and climate.

This budget meeting addressed several key financial aspects of the school district. Discussions included breakdowns of student-facing versus non-student-facing roles in proposed budget scenarios, an update on the RFP process for an independent operational audit (covering administration staffing, student support, and building use), and a detailed analysis of salary increases for various employee groups. Significant budget increases were examined for water usage on athletic fields, coaching salaries, and paraprofessional positions at different schools. The reasons behind these increases were explained, often relating to increased costs, new facilities, and changes in grant funding. The meeting also touched upon the long-term sustainability of the budget given the current salary structure and state funding formula.

This plan aims to ensure all students succeed within the general education environment by providing tools and strategies for educators. It integrates the District Curriculum Accommodation Plan (DCAP) with a Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles. Key focus areas include assisting general educators in accommodating diverse learning needs, outlining support services for academic and behavioral challenges, and fostering teacher mentoring, collaboration, professional development, and parent involvement to strengthen instructional practices and address student needs.

The Groton-Dunstable Regional School District's 2017-2022 strategy addresses key findings from a needs assessment, focusing on improving student performance, restoring programs, providing social-emotional support, enhancing special education, and ensuring essential support services. The plan uses a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) model to address academic and behavioral needs, incorporating Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and co-teaching. It also emphasizes community engagement, financial sustainability through programmatic review and revenue diversification, and the development of a positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) and social-emotional learning (SEL) framework. The ultimate goal is to improve the district's overall performance and achieve Level 1 status.

The School Committee meeting will include community group recognition, a staff spotlight presentation, superintendent reports covering staff and community culture and climate data and competency determination updates, an open forum/Chapter 70 Info Night, good news announcements, and new business. The meeting will also include votes to approve meeting minutes and a warrant.