Gloucester School Committee Approves Grant, Policy Revision at Data-Heavy June Meeting

GLOUCESTER -- June 11, 2025, Gloucester School Committee approves grant and student-assignment policy as achievement data shows mixed progress. The committee unanimously accepted an $18,085 Foster Education Foundation Britton Summer STEAM Camp grant and approved revisions to policy JCA, Assignment of Students to Schools, narrowing emergency-housing enrollment extensions to events such as fire or natural disaster, capped at six months with a hard ceiling at the end of the current school year. Gloucester High School Principal James Cook reported that more than 95 percent of seniors completed a post-secondary survey, with 86 heading to four-year colleges and 22 to North Shore Community College, the top destination; 90 percent of seniors agreed their school counselor provided needed support. O'Malley Middle School Principal Michael Titus acknowledged a difficult year marked by elevated chronic absenteeism, while reporting that 46 percent of O'Malley students achieved high ELA growth percentiles, up from 39 percent. Elementary coaches flagged third-grade reading growth as a concern consistent across all four schools, attributing it partly to MCAS stamina demands and reduced independent reading at home. The district also confirmed it will begin a math curriculum adoption process after DESE identified the current Math in Focus program as no longer meeting high-quality instructional material standards.