October 8, 2025 By Carol Britton Meyer
Executive Director of Student Services Christine Panarese presented phase one of her entry plan, “The First 90 Days,” to the School Committee Monday night, sharing what she called the building of a “strategic roadmap for an effective district leadership transition.”
Panarese was named to this position in early 2025 – effective July 1 – to replace Barbara Cataldo, who served as interim executive director for the past two years.
According to Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education historical data for the Hingham Public Schools, of a total of 3,661 in- and out-of-district students for 2025, 681 – or 18.6 percent — are students with disabilities.
In 2021, the percentage was 13.6; in 2022, 15.5; in 2023, 16.5; and in 2024, 18.3. “That’s quite a bit of change in five years,” Panarese said.
In addition, the Aspen student information data base indicates that there has been an increase in the number of students eligible for special education services of approximately 27% over the past five years in Hingham and that there are currently 744 Hingham students with disabilities that have active IEPs ((individualized education programs).
‘Shared sense of responsibility’
The vision of the Hingham Office of Student Services is to “embrace the philosophy to provide high quality, individualized, inclusive learning opportunities where all children with disabilities and their families experience belonging and a shared sense of responsibility in the development and education of their child so that they can reach their fullest potential in life,” Panarese explained.
Goals and actions for her first 30 days included building relationships and trust, observation and assessment, communication and transparency, and collaborative leadership.
Pre-entry activities prior to July 1 included multiple school and specialized program visits, meetings with individuals and groups – a wide range of stakeholders, including district and school administrators, general and special education teachers, students, central office personnel, Hingham Special Education Advisory Council officers, parents/guardians, and community groups – reviewing the status of Extended School Year programming, and preparing for immediate and upcoming school year hiring needs.
Transparent, high-quality, effective leadership
Pre-entry listening sessions highlighted stakeholder priorities for the new executive director, “emphasizing transparent, high-quality, and effective leadership, collaboration with HPS staff and families, and improvement of learning experiences for all students with disabilities,” according to the entry plan.
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education district and other data was reviewed, along with in-district information related to strategic plans, IEPs, student services budgeting and spending, grants, and other details.
Hingham specialized special education programming includes integrated preschool and a number of other offerings.
Panarese also provided information about classroom placements for students with disabilities and special education student MCAS achievement data – the positive results as well as the need for improvement in some areas.
Office of student services school-based staffing includes special education teachers and paraprofessionals, nurses, guidance and school adjustment counselors, school psychologists, behavior technicians, speech and language pathologists, occupational therapists, and special education administrative assistants.
Committee member Tim Dempsey said he found the “deep dive into data very useful” in the presentation, which he noted contains “a lot of observations parents [of special education students] have been talking about anecdotally. I’m looking forward to the next phase.”
Committee member Michelle Ayer called the report “a great and transparent presentation.”
Phase 2 of Panarese’s entry plan, “The Next 90 Days and Beyond,” will include “a deeper dive in the data” – with more information to come.
For full entry plan details, go to https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tN7WC_LBwurWGe2TAWVdH4MxKTPWdb-Q/view.
I am always dumbfounded by the special education Vision Statements put forward by special education administrators around Massachusetts including the one quoted here: “embrace the philosophy to provide high quality, individualized, inclusive learning opportunities where all children with disabilities and their families experience belonging and a shared sense of responsibility in the development and education of their child so that they can reach their fullest potential in life”.
Each and every school district should have the SAME Vision Statement which is:
34 CFR 300.1
“(a) To ensure that all children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education that
emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for
further education, employment, and independent living; and b) to ensure that the rights of children with disabilities and their parents are protected”. This is the Congressional Statement of Purpose for federal special education regulations. Nothing else is needed.