School Committee pauses 39-policy MASC alignment after Newberg pushback

WESTON -- October 21, 2024, Weston School Committee pauses 83-page MASC policy overhaul, advances FY26 budget guidelines. Member Kenneth Newberg pushed back on Vice Chair Jeff Lucas's plan to walk through 16 of 39 reference-aligned policy updates Monday, saying the volume of red-lined edits "isn't something we want to do efficiently, this is something we want to do right," and pointing to a new requirement that school councils use Robert's Rules of Order. Member Adam Newman agreed off-cycle time was needed; Superintendent Dr. Zaleski backed Newberg, citing administrative impacts such as new CORI checks for parents driving on field trips. The committee unanimously seated Shatasha Mayo as the non-voting BWMPO representative, advanced FY26 budget guidelines with new language on guiding principles, secondary class size and revenue-proposal analysis toward a Nov. 4 vote, and approved a consent agenda restructuring extracurricular Schedule C stipends. Public commenter Erica Gianpietro of 455 Concord Road urged a districtwide cell phone ban: "Be the heavy, so our educators can focus on educating."