Terry Fleming presented the district's annual update under the Student Opportunity Act, reporting a mix of improvements and areas that still require work.

Fleming told the school committee that districtwide chronic absenteeism among targeted populations decreased from 21% to 20% in the first year of the plan. She said absenteeism for students with disabilities fell from 29.6% to 21.2%.

Fleming also reported that grade‑6 MCAS math proficiency for the measured cohort dropped from 44% to 41%, and she cautioned that the year‑to‑year comparisons are not cohort‑based. By contrast, ninth‑grade passing rates rose from 58.5% to 81.2% among the target population; students with disabilities in that metric increased from 69.7% to 80.5%.

The presentation noted that the district was approved for two grant programs: innovative career pathways at the high school and Project Lead The Way at the middle school, both framed as early career exposure opportunities. Fleming said the first year of the district's dyslexia/early literacy screening implementation is a baseline data collection year and that staff are receiving training on using the screener data.

Fleming said stakeholder engagement activities — roundtables, student voice work, expanded multilingual communications and parent panels on technology and AI — are ongoing and are part of the next steps. The district will submit the required progress report to the state and will report again next year before writing a new plan in 2027–2028.

Clarifying details: chronic absenteeism change: 21% → 20% (targeted populations); students with disabilities absenteeism: 29.6% → 21.2%; grade‑6 MCAS math: 44% → 41%; ninth‑grade passing rate (target): 58.5% → 81.2%; students with disabilities ninth‑grade pass rate: 69.7% → 80.5%. All figures presented by district staff as part of the Student Opportunity Act update.