Committee reviews discipline‑coding work and plans to reopen wellness support centers; administration to provide budget details

Worcester — The committee on May 4 reviewed efforts to make discipline data more consistent across the district and discussed reopening wellness support centers for students involved in disciplinary actions.

Administration described an approach that pairs uniform coding of discipline incidents with alternative suspension models and an expanded wellness support room to provide consistent support to students. Committee members praised the scenario‑based approach used in staff training, saying it will help reduce variability in how incidents are coded across schools.

The item on alternative placements and wellness support centers prompted detailed questions about staffing and cost. A committee member noted the wellness supports reopened in March 2026 and said the program "has already provided support to 10 students," citing the initial results as evidence of early impact. Members requested a dollar‑amount estimate for staffing and operations to inform upcoming budget discussions; administration said staffing counts are included in the budget book when posted and agreed to provide cost figures to the committee by the next meeting or the upcoming Thursday meeting if possible.

The subcommittee voted to receive the reports and file them; no formal budget authorization was taken during the session.