Brookline — Interim senior leadership outlined priorities for the coming year at the Sept. 18 School Committee meeting, emphasizing implementation of the district strategic plan, coordination across departments, and steps to shore up administrative capacity. Superintendent Bella Wong said the district’s strategic plan provides the reference framework for the year’s priorities and that the senior leadership team focused on items they could advance in a single year while laying groundwork for multi‑year work.

Why it matters: The district’s listed priorities frame spending and staffing decisions for the FY‑27 budget cycle and shape what the committee and community will expect the administration to deliver over the next 12–18 months.

Key priorities described: Wong said the administration is prioritizing literacy implementation (K–8), multi‑tiered system of supports (MTSS) professional development, consistent scope and sequence and common assessments in core subjects, and completion of a K–12 vision for the BHS graduate. She said the district will support supervision and evaluation for 100% of educators and highlighted a scheduled set of shared training sessions on supervision and evaluation, led by Rebus Associates with Carol Gregory as instructor.

Governance, staffing and data systems: Wong told the committee that turnover and reductions at the senior leadership team level have left gaps the administration must assess and address before building the FY‑27 budget. She said the district lost a key data position and that data‑access and integration across functions (operations, teaching and learning, finance) needs repair and prioritized work to make those systems more fluid and accessible. "We need to affirm system protocols and expectations across all functions," she said.

Training and coordination: The district plans a 6‑hour supervision and evaluation training across 64 leaders in double sessions, with an earlier shared session having taken place Aug. 25. Wong and presenters emphasized shared professional learning and cross‑school collaboration as a way to sustain instructional changes.

Community communications and capacity: Wong said the district lacks a communications director and is temporarily relying on principals, other staff and volunteers to maintain newsletters and website updates. She told the committee the district will “cobble” communications this year while identifying whether and how to restore or reshape roles that were reduced in prior budgets.

Next steps: The administration will continue work on the FY‑27 budget and said it will return to the committee with more specific implementation plans and resource requests, including any recommended restorations of functions or positions.

Ending: Committee members thanked leadership for the clear framing and asked for follow‑up detail on any budget implications and on timelines for system repairs and hires.