Weston School Committee approves town meeting letter, hears Metro program annual report

WESTON — May 1, 2023 — Weston School Committee receives Metro annual report showing 159 students enrolled and $1.3 million in state grant funding. Meeting at the Epiphany Early Learning Center in Dorchester — an annual tradition affirming the district's commitment to the voluntary integration program — the committee heard that 70 percent of the 46 Metro high school students are taking at least one AP or honors course and that the senior class secured 38 college acceptances. The FY23 Metro grant of $1,234,816 was supplemented by an additional $74,949 from the state, and revolving accounts hold a current balance of $32,967. Chair Kenneth Newberg reported that teacher contract negotiations have advanced to a 10-percent-over-four-years salary offer and four hours of weekly prep time for elementary teachers, with the next mediation session set for May 8. The district's Metro program director identified filling the vacant community coordinator position and expanding an elementary after-school academic program — currently funded through a disproportionality grant — as the program's top near-term priorities.