EDUCATION

Today, panelists discuss devastating fires in Holyoke, evolving graduation requirements in Massachusetts, wastewater concerns in Pittsfield and much more.

Survey shows parents also want to know how they could contact children during the school day.

Massachusetts high school students would take end-of-course tests designed, administered and scored by the state under new graduation requirements recommended Monday by a state council. Passing the tests would not be a condition of receiving a diploma, as it was under the former "high stakes" MCAS system, but a major teachers union said the proposal still "defies the will of the voters" in 2024.

Last week Mass. Gov. Maura Healey signed the 104-page $2.3 billion supplemental budget. Her requested FIFA World Cup tournament funding for next year's games in Foxborough was halved.

In Springfield Public Schools, about 87% of all students eat breakfast every morning, followed by 75% of elementary school students in North Adams and 73% in Holyoke, a new report finds.

Staff at K-12 public schools in Massachusetts missed an average 12 days of work during the 2024-2025 school year, apart from summer vacation and breaks. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education released the staff absenteeism data for the first time on Tuesday, though Commissioner Pedro Martinez noted it was "not popular" with certain stakeholders.

Panelists break down the latest on the fires that devastated the UMass Amherst community, a rise in enrollment in vocational schools, collapsed plans for a long-awaited community center in Springfield, concerns about Mercy Medical Center’s future and more.

The fallout from the federal government shutdown continues to chip away at federal funding for safety net programs designed to aid low-income Mass. residents.

We visit the Center School's new building in Greenfield, we speak with East Forest before his performance at the Hope Center for the Arts and take the latest Thunderdome at Tip Top Wine Shop in Easthampton.

We visit New Salem Orchard ahead of Franklin County Cider Days, check in with folx from Self-Evident Education about how to support their programming and check out semantic bleaching with the Word Nerd.