Canton Public School leaders get encouraging news on student attendance rates
By Mike Berger
School Committee members, along with Superintendent Derek Folan and Select Board member Susan Harrington, honored the CHS golf team for their historic state championship win at the School Committee meeting on Nov. 20.
Canton School Superintendent Derek Folan was pleased to inform the School Committee last week that attendance is up at all Canton schools through the first marking period of 2025-26.
Last year, Canton schools saw attendance declines that put them near the bottom in a ranking of comparable school districts, and improvement in this area has been deemed a “top priority” for this school year, with all schools striving to maintain an attendance rate of 95.5 percent or higher in accordance with their recently completed school improvement plans.
According to data compiled by Josh Fogel, CPS director of technology and data analytics, through November 20, the overall district attendance rate was almost 97 percent, compared to almost 95 percent during the same period last year.
At Canton High School, the rate improved from 93.6 percent to a shade under 95 percent, and on the higher end, the attendance rate at the JFK School climbed to 97.59 percent. The Hansen School had an attendance rate of 97 percent, followed by the Galvin Middle School (almost 97 percent) and Luce School (96.73 percent). School principals and district administrators are monitoring the reasons for students missing school, including illness, surgery, and family vacations.
In other news from last week’s School Committee meeting, Brian Lynch, assistant superintendent of finance and operations, reported that the Canton School Department’s finances are in sound shape through the first quarter of the current fiscal year. As of November 20, CPS had a total deficit of $3.6 million, but that is without accounting for the pending Circuit Breaker payments from the state.
“The district is currently in a very stable financial position at the start of the 2025-26 school year,” said Lynch. “The current posted deficit is manageable within our Circuit Breaker reimbursement alone, and any additional non-salary costs incurred will also be offset by appropriate non-operating revenue sources. Our salary surplus remains healthy, which will allow the district to support our staff, students, and buildings with substitutes and other hourly employees that assist in the day-to day functions of the district.”
In other news from the November 20 meeting:
* The School Committee and CHS Athletic Director Danny Erickson honored the CHS golf team for winning its first-ever state championship, which followed a previous victory at the Division 2 North sectional tournament. Select Board member Susan Harrington presented the team with a proclamation declaring Thursday, November 20 as CHS Golf Day in Canton. Erickson congratulated all of the players and saluted head coach Mike Barucci as an unsung hero, citing his humility and hard work in guiding the team to an unprecedented level of success.
* Deb Rooney, CPS director of curriculum, instruction and assessment, announced the dates of the 2026 MCAS and ACCESS tests, and a copy of the schedule can be found …
See this week’s Citizen to continue reading and for more highlights from the November 20 School Committee meeting. Click here to order your subscription today.
Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=132827
Posted by Mike Berger
on Nov 27 2025. Filed under News, Schools.
Both comments and pings are currently closed.
