Littleton School Committee Adopts New Three-Year Student Opportunity Act Plan Unanimously

LITTLETON -- March 28, 2024, Littleton School Committee approves Student Opportunity Act plan targeting disability achievement gaps and chronic absenteeism. The committee voted unanimously Thursday to adopt its second three-year Student Opportunity Act plan, covering fiscal years 2024 through 2027, after Director of Teaching and Learning Beth Steele presented data showing that just 5 percent of third-grade students with disabilities met or exceeded expectations on the 2023 ELA MCAS compared with 56 percent of all students, and that 37.9 percent of multilingual learners and 39.1 percent of Hispanic and Latino students were chronically absent in 2022-23, more than double the 14.8 percent rate for all other students. The plan targets two DESE evidence-based focus areas: a multi-tiered system of supports to address root causes of absenteeism and a new K-5 comprehensive literacy program. The committee also unanimously reappointed Charlie Ellis, a 14-year incumbent who noted that four of the regional vocational district's eight member towns face override votes this year, to another three-year term on the Nashoba Valley Technical High School District Committee, and approved a February 2025 band trip to Orlando's Disney Performing Arts program.