School Committee Approves Protect Act, Field Trip

School Committee · Meeting of October 13, 2026

Peabody School Committee members clashed over whether the district is doing enough on falling middle-school MCAS scores. Member Pam Millman called middle school results "horrific" and criticized consultant spending and a policy guaranteeing students at least a 50; Superintendent Dr. Vidala called some of her claims "blatantly false," noting school improvement plans were posted October 1. The district's 2026 accountability report, presented by Dr. Chase, showed the South School met 83 percent of targets while the Higgins Middle School and high school were newly flagged for state assistance, with percentiles of 9 and 12.

The committee separately heard the School Building Committee voted unanimously, 7-0, to pursue a construction-manager-at-risk model for the new high school, heading next to the City Council. Members also approved four warrants totaling $1,587,708.42 and a Martha's Vineyard field trip for the girls' hockey team, and tabled a disputed "governance master calendar."

In the full story:

• Opening, Brown School Literacy Presentation and Student Awards
• Minutes, Warrants and Routine Business
• New High School Project: Construction Manager At Risk
• 2026 MCAS and Accountability Report
• Field Trip Approval: Girls' Hockey to Martha's Vineyard
• CPAC Presentation
• Subcommittee Reports: Quality and Standards
• Governance Master Calendar Debate
• Community Response to October 6 Anti-Hate Event
• CUBE Conference Report
• Other New Business
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 2,446 words

Source: the School Committee meeting of October 13, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.