School Committee discusses District Goals, Gender Identity Policy, Budget Surplus.
Angier awarded National Blue Ribbon
The September 23 regular School Committee meeting began with public comment and approval of the consent agenda, and then Superintendent Nolin began her regular update by announcing that Angier Elementary was one of only 9 Massachusetts schools, and 356 nationally, to win a 2024 Blue Ribbon Award by the U.S. Department of Education. Angier principal Orla Higgins-Averill provided Fig City News with a statement she had issued to the Angier community regarding the award, which referred to the Award as “the highest honor a school can receive in the United States.” According to the Department of Education website, Angier received the Blue Ribbon Award for being “Exemplary High Performing”: a public school having the highest achieving students (the top 15%) in English and mathematics, measured by state assessments.
The school’s full name: A.E. Angier School is alphabetized as the first school listed on the U.S. Department of Education web page of 2024 Blue Ribbon award winners. Later in the Superintendent’s Update, Dr. Nolin reported that Newton South High School had received National Banner Recognition from Special Olympics North America, one of only 202 schools nationally to received this recognition.
Gender Identity Support
The first regular School Committee discussion item was a recommendation for NPS to adopt Policy JB-B Gender Identity Support, which generally seeks for NPS to formally adopt policies that align with Massachusetts General Law c. 76, § 5, incorporating gender identity as a protected class from discrimination. M.G.L. c. 76, § 5 was passed into state law in 2012. The Committee discussion largely centered around privacy issues, as well as the rights of parents to be able to view their child’s NPS records (for example, a child’s request to change pronouns). The focus of Mayor Fuller and School…