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Saturday, October 31, 2026 Essex County, Massachusetts · Change town
Schools · School Committee

Peabody School Committee splits 4-2 on minutes

Peabody School Committee splits 4-2 approving minutes amid confusion over the superintendent's evaluation. Dr.

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School Committee · Meeting of September 8, 2026

Peabody School Committee splits 4-2 approving minutes amid confusion over the superintendent's evaluation. Dr. Cox and Ms.

Millman voted no, saying the Aug. 25 minutes failed to clarify whether the board accepted Superintendent Josh Vidala's evaluation report or just a late communication about it; Mrs. Carpenter said her motion was "clearly" to accept the report itself. The board separately accepted a $300,000, two-year Barr Foundation grant for high school programming and approved warrants of $8,238.36, $1,265,214.12 (Cox abstaining) and $74,548.65.

Kindergarten enrollment hit 476 students, the district's largest class since the current fifth grade. Members voted to request MASC governance and open-meeting-law training by year's end, and voted 5-1, with Dunn abstaining, to reimburse members attending November's MASC conference in Danvers.

In the full story:

  • Who Was There
  • Organizations And Documents Referenced
  • The complete report — 2,650 words

Source: the School Committee meeting of September 8, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

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