Weston School Committee Unanimously Opts Out of School Choice for 2026-2027

WESTON -- March 30, 2026, Weston School Committee votes 5-0 to stay out of school choice and accepts a $50,000 field-lights donation. Meeting Monday at Case House, the committee unanimously declined to participate in the state school choice program for 2026-2027, with Superintendent Karen Zaleski citing enrollment growth, a roughly $30,000 per-pupil cost, and limited capacity to serve incoming students' needs; member Kenneth Newberg noted the district runs only six to nine elementary sections annually, meaning even a handful of new students could force a costly additional classroom. The committee also accepted a $50,000 donation from the Weston Boosters toward a roughly $125,000 design-and-permitting effort for lights at Field 1, with Daina Selvig clarifying that acceptance does not commit the district to completing the project. Outside consultant Kerci Marcello Stroud of The Perry Group presented a communications audit calling the lack of a dedicated full-time communications professional "a must-have, not a nice-to-have," pointing to generic Bright Arrow email sender names and an absence of a crisis communications plan as immediate vulnerabilities. Chair Adam Newman announced a new pilot stakeholder survey for the superintendent's annual evaluation, set to launch April 6 and aligned to the DESE rubric, with committee evaluation forms due April 17.