Wayland School Committee weighs summer daycare gap for special education students

WAYLAND -- April 24, 2024, Wayland School Committee confronts summer daycare gap for special-needs students. At the April 24 meeting, special education administrator Debbie told members the district's revamped extended-school-year program offers four service tiers, from one-to-three-hour tutorials up to a 8:30-to-1:30, five-day intensive, but none cover a full day, forcing working families to choose between IEP services and full-day camp. "ESY is not mandated or required… But those parents who want to access it and have daycare needs have a huge challenge," she said. The district is in talks with Pegasus on wraparound staffing and may approach the town recreation department, modeled on partnerships she ran in Concord and Acton-Boxborough. Member Erin Muller said bluntly, "This is not going to be solved by the school district." The committee also finalized interview assignments for the acting superintendent's evaluation, with summaries due May 27, and edited the FY26 budget book to attribute fiscal strain to "the depletion of available funding" such as circuit breaker and SPED prepayment.