Wilmington School Committee Rejects School Choice, Overhauls Middle School Schedule

WILMINGTON -- May 13, 2026, Wilmington School Committee rejects school choice, overhauls middle school schedule, and reelects its full leadership team. The committee voted unanimously at its May 13 meeting to decline participation in school choice for the 2026-27 school year, with Dr. McCauley calling the state's $5,000-per-student reimbursement rate "almost a non-starter" and Superintendent Dr. Glenn Thompson recommending the status quo due to capacity constraints at the high school. Wilmington Middle School Principal Brian Kaira presented a sweeping schedule overhaul replacing the 45-to-50-minute WIN intervention block with a 30-minute PAUSE period open to all staff, not just core subject teachers, cutting average group sizes from roughly 22 students to 10 to 12; the committee received the proposal as informational and took no vote. The committee also unanimously approved a Panama and Costa Rica student field trip for April 2028, priced at $3,864 per student, accepted a 2025 end-of-year audit finding on missing written fund-allocation procedures between the town and schools, and reelected Jesse Fennelly as Chair, Dr. Jeff Bryson as Vice Chair, and Stephen Turner as Secretary. A formal vote on a Doorman cell-phone management app is expected at the May 27 meeting.