Weston School Committee removes religious holidays from draft calendar grid

WESTON — December 2, 2024 — Weston School Committee hears 1,042-respondent schedule survey, advances program-of-studies revisions and overhauls draft calendar. Assistant Superintendent Kyle McNamara reported that 875 respondents — including 449 students, 91 teachers and 335 caregivers — were generally dissatisfied with the current eight-day rotation, with 76 percent of students opposing an earlier start time but 70.2 percent of teachers supporting one. High school administrator Kim Mitch presented proposals to embed a CP psychology section within AP Psychology, delete Introduction to Economics, restructure 11th- and 12th-grade PE around the PLT4M choice platform used in roughly 1,000 high schools, and reinstate animation. Member Kenneth Newberg cited a Boston Globe article on Newton's troubled embedded-course experience; Mitch said she "would not support" embedding in foundational subjects. Chair Daina Selvig announced Buck McCreel, former Lincoln finance director, as interim finance chief. The committee voted to remove religious holiday names from the 2025-26 calendar grid after member Jane Li warned that re-adding them without equity-review work was "worse than not acknowledging it."