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Canton School Committee

Welcome to the homepage of the Canton School Committee!

Our School Committee is the governing board of the Canton public school system and consists of five members who are elected to overlapping three-year terms of volunteer, public service during the Canton town elections held each April.  

The School Committee is responsible to the people for whose benefit the school district has been established and its decisions influence the course of education in Canton schools for years to come.  As such, the Committee and each of our members must look to the future and to the needs of all people more than the average citizen finds necessary.  This requires a comprehensive perspective and long-range planning in addition to attention to immediate problems.

Our primary charge is to establish those purposes, programs, and procedures that will best produce the educational achievement needed by our students. The Committee is tasked with accomplishing this while also being responsible for wise management of resources available to the school district.  

The School Committee must fulfill these responsibilities by functioning as a legislative body to formulate and adopt policy, by selecting an executive officer (our Superintendent) to implement policy, and by evaluating the results.  It must carry out its functions openly, while seeking the comments of the public, students, and staff in its decision-making processes. It has all the powers conferred upon it by state law and must perform those duties mandated by the state. These include the responsibility and right to determine policies and practices and to employ staff to implement its directions for the proper education of the children of the community.

The Committee takes a broad view of its functions. It sees them as:

  1. Legislative or policymaking. The Committee is responsible for the development of policy as guides for administrative action and for employing a Superintendent who will implement its policies.
     
  2. Superintendent Oversight. The Committee is responsible for hiring, supervision and evaluation of the Superintendent.
     
  3. Appraisal. The Committee is responsible for evaluating the effectiveness of its policies and their implementation.
     
  4. Provision of financial resources. The Committee is responsible for adoption of a budget that will enable the District to carry out the Committee's policies.
     
  5. Public relations. The Committee is responsible for providing adequate and direct means for keeping the local citizenry informed about the schools and for keeping itself and the school staff informed about the needs and wishes of the public.
     
  6. Educational planning and evaluation. The Committee is responsible for establishing educational goals and policies that will guide the Committee and staff for the administration and continuing improvement of the educational programs provided by the District.

Our meetings are generally on two Thursdays nights each month during the school year, at 6:00 p.m and are open to the public.

In 2019, the School Committee adopted the current Strategic Framework 2019-2024, which will serve as a guide as the district collaborates to build out a full 2024-2029 Strategic Plan that should be available in the summer of 2023. 

The School Committee maintains membership in the Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC) and leverages this relationship to provide ongoing training for School Committee members and help inform the Committee on key issues.

Administrative Assistant to the Superintendent/School Committee Recording Secretary

Photo of Colleen Hutchinson

Colleen Hutchinson

Administrative Assistant--Superintendent, District Administration

This site provides information using PDF, visit this link to download the Adobe Acrobat Reader DC software.