Waltham Superintendent Pauses High School Schedule Change for One Year

WALTHAM — March 4, 2026 — Waltham superintendent pauses high school schedule overhaul, show choir controversy dominates public comment. Superintendent Dr. Ana Mendonca told the School Committee at its March 4 meeting that she is halting a proposed schedule change at Waltham High School, saying the current eight-course rotating schedule will remain in place for next year only while a revised alternating-block proposal is developed with broader stakeholder input. Dr. Mendonca cited the school's ninth-percentile accountability rating — placing it among the bottom 10 percent of Massachusetts's 360 high schools — as the primary driver for eventual change, noting that high school students currently receive core instruction just three times per week compared to daily instruction in the district's middle schools. More than 20 students, parents, and alumni then filled public comment with sharp opposition to proposed course-description changes in the program of studies that would reclassify the nationally ranked Music Unlimited and Music Express show choirs as classes with optional after-school competitive clubs — changes students said would be "physically impossible" to operate under. Speakers also raised unanswered questions about plans to eliminate sheltered English immersion courses and to merge Project Lead the Way capstone courses across three distinct pathways; the committee took no vote on the program of studies.