SOUTHBRIDGE, Mass. - Southbridge Public Schools went into state receivership more than five years ago and since then, superintendent and receiver Jeffrey Villar said positive strides have been taken, but the district will remain in receivership for at least three more years.

Villar said one main goal is to align the district's math and English curriculum to state standards. Meanwhile, Southbridge eighth-graders saw the highest growth in scores in math on the 2021-22 MCAS test in comparison to 15 similar districts.

“If you take a look at the documentations the state provided when it first took over the district, and then each successive turnaround plan, we do have metrics that we were following,” said Villar. “So we're looking to improve some things average people would want to see improved - school attendance, discipline issues, climate culture, which we've done a really good job of, but also academics.

"So high school graduation rates, students advanced off to college, mastery of MCAS scores, all those types of academics also need to show improvement. And today we have some areas of growth and some we still need to do much better.” 

Villar also discussed the importance of social-emotional support services for students. The district was recently awarded a $70,000 grant from the state's Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to benefit social-emotional learning initiatives, like providing students with timely access to mental health telehealth services.