Stoneham School Committee Extends Boys and Girls Club After-School Contract One Year

STONEHAM — April 9, 2026 — Stoneham School Committee unanimously extends Boys and Girls Club after-school contract while superintendent unveils wide-ranging year-one entry report. The committee voted at its April 9 meeting to extend the Boys and Girls Club Metro North contract for one year under an existing clause, with Superintendent Dr. DeFrancisco citing insufficient time to pursue alternatives: "In order for us to consider something different than what we're doing right now for after school is going to take a lot of bandwidth — it's April." A resident, Abigail Shaw, raised access concerns during public comment, noting difficulty securing spots at registration and suggesting the district could be foregoing potential revenue by not running the program itself. CPAC co-chairs Kyla Malati and Jesse Killalay presented fall 2025 special education survey results from only 32 respondents — well below the typical 75 to 100 — finding that one quarter of evaluation families reported the 45-school-day legal timeline was not met and that a School Committee directive to distribute a CPAC information flyer to all families remains unfulfilled more than a year later. The committee also approved vendor warrant No. 2642 for $663,705.44 and voted unanimously to remain a non-school choice community for 2026-27.