Gloucester School Committee Approves Special Ed Reserve Fund, Confronts O'Malley Behavior Crisis

GLOUCESTER -- April 9, 2025, Gloucester School Committee confronts O'Malley Middle School behavioral crisis and approves new special education reserve fund. Five parents delivered pointed public testimony Wednesday about deteriorating student behavior at O'Malley, including vaping, fights, and persistent classroom disruption, before Superintendent Van Lunn and Principal Mike Titus presented data showing 580 classroom removals, more than 200 after-school detentions, 40 out-of-school suspensions, and three long-term exclusions among 619 enrolled students since September, a suspension rate of roughly 6.5 percent, against a historical norm of about 2 percent. Titus said a therapeutic placement for the highest-need students is "already in process" and announced that assistant principals will be assigned to fixed grade levels next year rather than moving with cohorts. The committee unanimously accepted state law enabling a special education stabilization reserve fund seeded at $750,000, capped at approximately $810,000, available beginning in fiscal year 2026 upon a joint vote with the City Council. The committee also voted unanimously to approve a legislative advocacy letter urging state lawmakers to raise the Chapter 70 per-pupil funding floor to a minimum of $130, nearly double the governor's proposed $75.