Wayland School Committee approves 2025-2026 goals and revised Title IX policy

WAYLAND -- September 10, 2025, Wayland schools cut chronic absenteeism nearly in half after a year-long, multi-team push. Assistant Superintendent Betsy Gavron told the School Committee on Sept. 10 that the share of chronically absent students fell from 17.9 percent in 2023-24 to 10.2 percent at the end of last year, after the district scored zero of four points on that state accountability measure the prior year. School-based attendance teams met every three weeks, a district working group met five times, and staggered letters went out at four, eight and 15 days at the high school. Gavron said personalized outreach "makes the invisible visible." The committee unanimously approved the 2025-2026 district goals, including a new operational goal and a work-order ticketing system that Director of Finance and Operations Kirsteen Patterson said will "eliminate the sticky note." Members also unanimously approved revised Title IX policy AC-R.