School Committee OKs 2028 Europe trip

School Committee · Meeting of October 7, 2026

Westborough's School Committee voted 4-0 to authorize an April 2028 student trip to Austria, Germany and Switzerland. Teacher Nicole Miller, presenting her fourth and likely final trip as group leader, said the Education First-run trip would cost "under $5,000 by just a little bit," not including lunch and airport transfers. Superintendent Allison reported Fales Elementary School has grown to about 394 students, up from roughly 280 before last year's K-3 redistricting, with ESL enrollment there now near 54 students.

A district accountability presentation from staff including Matt Mehler, Jen Nottingham and Jenny Deane showed Mill Pond, Gibbons and the high school scoring in the 88th, 92nd and 79th percentiles respectively under state growth metrics, but flagged chronic absenteeism rates topping 40 percent in some student subgroups. Committee member Jane called the figures "shocking," questioning whether data-entry errors were inflating the numbers. The committee also approved its September 23 minutes, 4-0.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 2,551 words

Source: the School Committee meeting of October 7, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.