Hingham School Committee Approves France Trip, Interventionist Union Agreement

HINGHAM — March 9, 2026 — Hingham School Committee approves France exchange trip and ratifies interventionist labor agreement. The committee, meeting Monday with Vice Chair Michelle Ay presiding in place of absent Chair Jen Benham, unanimously approved a student exchange trip to Paris and the Toulouse region for April 2027, organized by high school French teachers Alec Porter and Maria Zade as part of an ongoing partnership with a school near Toulouse. The board also unanimously ratified a memorandum of agreement integrating the district's MTSS interventionists into the Hingham Education Association's Unit B contract, covering September 1, 2024 through August 31, 2027 — a deal Superintendent Erica Pard said was completed in just two bargaining sessions. A mid-year MTSS data presentation showed fourth-grade special education math growth climbing from 49 percent of typical annual growth last year to 87 percent this year, while 84 percent of kindergartners tested at or above literacy benchmark. The committee deferred a formal FY27 budget vote pending updated enrollment data, and heard that state Education Commissioner Martinez has warned districts of a likely significant decrease in Title 1 federal funding for FY27.