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Vol. 50 | No. 6 | February 9, 2024
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Marlborough Hudson E DI T I ON
MPS programs to address chronic absenteeism
Dumais completes busy first month as mayor By Maureen Sullivan Assistant Editor
By Maureen Sullivan Assistant Editor MARLBOROUGH – How do you keep students in school? It’s a problem facing school systems across the country, and it’s no different at Marlborough Public Schools (MPS). According to MPS Superintendent Mary Murphy, 30.7% of all students were absent from classes for more than 18 days, or “chronically absent,” during the 2022-23 school year. Among the reasons — parents not sending their children to school and risk catching COVID-19; or parents unable to pick up their children from school in case they get sick because of a lack of transportation. For older students, it could be a case of them having childcare or work obligations. “Post-COVID, the number [of absentees] doubled, even tripled,” said Murphy. To help deal with the problem, MPS established attendance teams in each school, and it began encouraging teachers to reach out to families. Academies and night school For younger students, MPS is planning attendance academies during vacation weeks. Absenteeism | 16
MARLBOROUGH – One month down, and it’s so far, so good for the city’s new mayor. “It’s going great,” said J. Christian Dumais, who took the oath of office on Jan. 1. He and his staff have been meeting with department heads, and he has already begun several initiatives. On Jan. 25, the city rolled out a new program to help deal with rodents, especially rats. Dumais has also been visiting several locations with the mayor’s mobile office, and he recently rode the bus with MWRTA officials to discuss improvements to the city’s public transportation. Mayor | 2
J. Christian Dumais has completed his first month as Marlborough mayor. (Photo/Maureen Sullivan)
Hudson schools prepare for tough fiscal year By Sarah Freedman Contributing Writer HUDSON – With the bid for the busing contract received, the School Committee looked ahead to a tight fiscal 2025 budget and the future of busing costs at its Jan. 23 meeting. The budget discussion was in anticipation of the Feb. 5 meeting in which the district would
come before the Select Board. What was driving the budget “deeper into a hole,” Superintendent Brian Reagan said, were factors out of their control, like a 48% increase for in-district transportation. He said that kind of increase in costs would be difficult to absorb into a budget that was “just north of $50 million.” Hudson schools | 16