Wilmington School Committee Declines School Choice, Keeps Leadership Team Intact

PEPPERELL — May 14, 2026 — Wilmington School Committee votes down school choice and hears sweeping middle school schedule proposal. The committee voted unanimously at its May 14 meeting to decline participation in school choice for the 2026-2027 school year, with Superintendent Dr. Thompson recommending the status quo and member Dr. McCauley calling the state's $5,000 per-pupil reimbursement rate "almost a non-starter." Middle School Principal Kyra then presented a proposed 2026-2027 schedule overhaul two years in the making, replacing the 45-to-50-minute WIN intervention block with a 30-minute PAUSE block available to all staff — not only core subject teachers — citing survey data showing 97.3 percent of staff and 93.3 percent said WIN was not meeting student needs. The committee also reelected Chair Jesse Fennelly, Vice Chair Dr. Jeff Bryson, and Secretary Stephen Turner unanimously, approved a $3,864-per-student Panama and Costa Rica educational trip for 2028, and accepted a 2025 audit report noting one unresolved finding on the absence of written procedures governing the town-school financial relationship.