Weston School Committee approves UMass geothermal study, reviews 2021 MCAS results

WESTON — October 12, 2021 — Weston School Committee reviews MCAS dip and approves free UMass geothermal study. Assistant Superintendent Kimo Carter told the committee that grades 3-8 students meeting or exceeding expectations fell to 76 percent in ELA and 69 percent in math, down from 83 and 81 percent in 2019, but said Weston's student growth percentile beat the state's in three of four categories and the district posted 0 percent not meeting expectations in grade 10 math and physics. Superintendent Mitch Connelly reported high school vaccination above 80 percent, staff at 99 percent, and 57 percent of high schoolers registered for state pooled testing; the Board of Health revisits the mask mandate Nov. 3. Member Danielle Black pressed for explicit benchmarks, saying "It's not going to be masks that save us in the long run. It's vaccines." The committee unanimously approved a $1,823,090.58 warrant, a $1,300 METCO grant for speaker Ivy Watts, and a no-cost UMass Amherst geothermal feasibility study running January through May 2022.