Cohasset School District Climbs to 14th in State Rankings

Town Approves New Affordable Housing Units at Two Locations

COHASSET - December 17 - The Cohasset School District has made significant strides in the latest Boston Magazine school rankings, jumping to 14th place in the state from 35th last year. The district now ranks first in the South Shore region and fifth in the state for English MCAS scores.

Select Board member David Farrag announced the achievement during the board's recent meeting. "When it came to English in the MCAS, [the district] was number five in the state, beating everyone out," Farrag said.

The improved ranking places the district ahead of neighboring communities like Hingham and Duxbury. Farrag attributed the success to the collective efforts of students, teachers, paraprofessionals, and parents.

"There's a lot of good things going on at the schools," Farrag said. "Congratulations to obviously the students who put in the work, the teachers, all the paraprofessionals, professionals at the school. And of course, the parents help the kids with the homework when they come home from school."

The achievement aligns with a long-standing community goal. "We've always talked about having a top 20 school system going back almost 30 years to kind of keep [the district] in the top 20, and it is now," Farrag added.

In other business, the Select Board approved the addition of affordable housing units at two locations in town. The projects will provide a total of seven new affordable housing units, addressing the demonstrated need for affordable housing in the area.

At 1 Pleasant Street, four affordable housing units will be created. Town Planner Cassandra Thayer informed the board that the units will be split between two 2-bedroom and two 1-bedroom units.

The board also approved three additional affordable housing units at 393 CJC Highway. This project will convert three existing market-rate rental units into deed-restricted affordable units.

Paul Kierce, chairman of the Affordable Housing Steering Committee, spoke in support of the 393 CJC Highway project. "What this is going to do is, even though they are all of them count towards the housing stock, what we really try to achieve is something that's actually affordable. So, this actually does that," Kierce said.

Kierce emphasized the importance of local preference for these units. "There's an opportunity for local preference right now within the first 30 days," he explained. "So, as soon as it's executed, the clock starts ticking to when we can get those folks signed up and in there before it goes into the state."

The board members expressed support for both projects, recognizing the urgent need for affordable housing in the community. Select Board member Jack Creighton suggested publicizing the local preference opportunity, stating, "Wouldn't it be very helpful if we put like an alert on our town website and got the senior center to make sure that people understand that we have this one-time opportunity to get local preference?"

Full meeting available via the Town of Cohasset YouTube page.