The Milton School Committee posted notice of a governance retreat on Friday, Aug. 21, separate from its regular meetings and a signal the board is working to reset its internal operations as it faces scrutiny over racially disparate residency enforcement.
The retreat agenda was filed with the Milton Town Clerk under the state's Open Meeting Law, but specific topics, a scheduled date and a location have not been made public. A Policy Subcommittee agenda was also posted the same day.
The notice comes two days after the committee's Wednesday, Aug. 19, regular meeting at Tucker Elementary, where the district announced it would scrap its anonymous residency tip line and begin issuing regular reports on residency investigations. Those changes followed weeks of pressure after a Boston Globe investigation published Aug. 5 found Black students were disproportionately scrutinized in residency investigations relative to their share of enrollment.
About 140 parents signed a petition demanding the district address racial disproportionalities in investigations and expulsions by Sept. 2.
State Education Secretary Stephen Zrike condemned Milton's use of police in residency checks on Aug. 6: "There is zero tolerance for racial profiling or intimidation of any kind, especially actions like sending police officers to surveil homes and entering children's bedrooms."
Interim Superintendent John Phelan, who took charge in June 2025, pushed back in a letter to families sent Friday afternoon, Aug. 14, saying the committee rejects "any assertion that 'racial profiling' is the only possible explanation for the disparities." School Committee Chair Mark Loring and Phelan have both declined interview requests from the Globe.
The committee is also in the early stages of searching for a permanent superintendent. A superintendent search subcommittee held its first meeting July 27.
Former Chair Amanda Serio resigned in March, citing personal and family commitments, and her seat was contested on the April 28 ballot. The governance retreat is the committee's first publicly noticed effort to address how it operates as a body since that turnover.
No facilitator, specific governance priorities or public comment opportunities for the retreat have been announced.
