In surprise move, School Committee votes to support ‘yes’ on Question 2

By AUBREY HAWKE
Waltham Times Contributing Writer

The School Committee voted to support a yes vote on ballot Question 2, which seeks to remove a passing grade on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) as a graduation requirement for public school students. 

This action came as a surprise, having only been added to the agenda near the end of the committee’s Oct. 23 meeting. 

The School Committee voted four in favor, one against and one abstention to take a stance supporting yes on Question 2. 

Question 2 seeks to remove the need for public school students to score a passing grade on the MCAS in order to graduate high school. If voters approve the question on Nov. 5, individual districts will be able to choose their own graduation requirements. 

The School Committee’s action stood out not just because of its last-minute nature but also because of its inherent rarity. Mayor Jeannette McCarthy, who chairs the School Committee and has been on the committee for decades, said, “I have never in my 27 years seen a board address a ballot question.” 

She added: “Other school committees are doing it, whether it’s right or wrong, I’m just saying I have never in 27 years seen that.”

Some school committees around the state recently have taken up the issue and whether to take a stance on Question 2. This includes the school committees for Brockton and Burlington, which endorsed an affirmative vote on the question. Other school committees, such as Andover and Hull, decided against discussing or taking a stance on the issue. 

School Committee member James Zanghi brought the matter forward in the last half hour of the three-hour meeting. Some committee members voiced discomfort at such a major motion being added to the agenda and brought to their attention only after the meeting was in session. 

Zanghi told The Waltham Times that his reason for bringing the issue up when he did was a matter of timing. 

“Given that the election is 11 days away and that the next School Committee would have been after the election, I made my motion as a School Committee member at the end of the meeting on whether we wanted to endorse that ballot question. And, given the subsequent endorsement, I am proud that we’ve taken a lead as a district on this issue,” Zanghi said.

Committee member John Frassica called the decision to bring the matter to the board at such late notice “disturbing” and “upsetting.” 

Committee member Elizabeth AlJammal made similar comments..

“I’ve done my homework on this question. I know how I will be voting on Election Day. I think it’s completely unfair to be putting our colleagues in a position at the last minute, completely unprepared to be having a discussion on this. I will not be voting on this this evening,” AlJammal said.

McCarthy also voiced discontent with how the matter was brought to the committee. She said that if the issue was on the public agenda ahead of time, thereby giving the public proper notice, many residents may have attended the meeting to hear the discussion and decision. 

“It’s very unusual for us to add something of this significance to an agenda in this manner,” said McCarthy. 

Weighing in on Question 2

After taking a short recess to obtain copies of the ballot question, committee members discussed the details of the question. 

They spoke minimally about the reasoning behind their votes. 

Committee members initially voiced some concerns about the ballot question, worrying that the district might be left with no aptitude test or replacement graduation requirement. 

Committee member Debbie Coleman responded, saying: “My understanding of the ballot question is that it’s not going to stop MCAS from being given to students at all ages. It’s simply to eliminate the graduation requirement for grade 10.” 

Concerns about procedural processes

Closing out the meeting, Frassica asked that the School Committee be refreshed on procedural processes. 

“I would like to have the School Committee somehow go through a retraining on how our agenda works. We’ve talked about it in the past, and I’d like to see it happen, on how our agenda works and how we follow it. Because when we don’t follow it, we look like fools out there,” said Frassica, gesturing to the audience. 

At Frassica’s request, discussion of possible retraining will be added to the agenda of a meeting sometime in 2025.