Stoughton School Committee creates policy and budget subcommittees to comply with open meeting law

STOUGHTON -- March 3, 2026, Stoughton School Committee votes to formalize two subcommittees after state guidance flags open meeting law gap. The board voted 4-0 twice at its March 3 meeting, first to create a policy subcommittee and then a budget subcommittee, after the Massachusetts Association of School Committees advised that the existing policy working group legally qualifies as a subcommittee and must post public agendas and record minutes. Chair Jillian DiStefano appointed herself and member Jen Sears to the policy subcommittee and DiStefano alone to the budget subcommittee, with both appointments running through June. The board also heard Jones Early Childhood Center Director Nicole warn that a planned relocation to the Wilkins School could repeat mistakes from a previous move in which staff had "no voice" and no advance tour, a concern Superintendent Joseph Ford addressed by announcing a spring building tour is already scheduled as part of ongoing transition planning tied to a $2.7 million HVAC project at the Wilkins. A community survey on the draft homework policy, released the same day in English, Portuguese, Spanish, and French Creole, drew more than 70 responses within hours of going live.