Weymouth School Committee Orders Closing Study for Administration Building

WEYMOUTH -- December 7, 2023, Weymouth School Committee unanimously authorized a closing study for its 111 Middle Street administration building at the December 7 meeting, acting on a recommendation from Superintendent Robert Wargo under district policy FCB. The vote came after Assistant Superintendent Matt Meehan presented Weymouth's first-ever educational master facilities plan, finding that seven of nine elementary schools were built before 1959 and lack space for individualized instruction, pull-out therapy, and MTSS services now required under modern educational standards. Meehan projected fifth-grade enrollment will grow from 384 students today to 471 by 2032, requiring four additional core classrooms for that grade alone, and flagged that the MSBA statement-of-interest window opens January 12. Phase one solutions include reopening Johnson school and deploying modular classroom units; phase two envisions a capital project at least eight to ten years out. The committee also accepted $114,124.15 in monetary gifts and $99,494.99 in in-kind donations to the district for FY2023, and received first readings of updated attendance-zone assignment policies JC and JCA, with a second reading set for January. Three education support professionals delivered public comment calling on the committee to address what they described as poverty-level wages that are driving experienced ESPs out of the district.