Town Government
School Committee & Superintendent
The Superintendent
James E. Adams
About 2,910 students start their day in this district, and one person answers for all of it. James E. Adams leads Ashland Public Schools, proposing the school budget, setting academic priorities, and running five schools day to day. He began his administrative career in Ashland in 2009, and the School Committee selected him as Superintendent in 2014. The Superintendent is hired by and reports to that elected committee, which evaluates him against goals it publishes and votes on. Note what this means for the money: the school budget is the one large piece of town spending the Town Manager does not build. Charter section 7-1(d) has the School Committee file its own detailed budget into the Town Manager’s schedule, and from there it goes to the same Town Meeting that votes everything else.
| Role | Superintendent of Schools |
|---|---|
| In the role since | 2014 |
| Website | ashland.k12.ma.us |
The School Committee
The Ashland School Committee has five members, all elected town-wide to staggered three-year terms under charter section 3-3(a), which means a seat or two is on the ballot every May. Ashland is a single-town district, so all five answer to Ashland voters and nobody else. The committee sets district policy, approves the school budget, and hires and evaluates the Superintendent. It reorganizes after each annual town election and elects its own officers: on June 3, 2026, in the Ashland High School library, the first item on the agenda was the reorganization, and the committee voted Marc Terry into the chair and Paul Kendall into the vice chair. Meetings are public, which means an Ashland student who shows up can speak.
Marc Terry
Paul Kendall
Tina Fitanides
Marcy Culverwell
Chantal Kokaram
Contact details for the committee are published by the district, and emails to and from a school committee are part of the public record.
The District at a Glance
- Enrollment: 2,910 students, PreK through 12.
- Schools: five, including Ashland High School.
- Graduation rate: 91.5%.
- State data: DESE profile (code 00140000).
Meetings & Participation
- When: the committee meets on the second and fourth Wednesday of the month through the school year. The district posts each agenda, and the meeting location is on the agenda.
- Public comment: the committee welcomes community members to speak on matters within its purview, with speakers limited to two minutes so more people get a turn.
- Watch: the district publishes agendas, minutes and meeting video links together on its School Committee page, so a meeting you missed is still watchable. WACA TV also runs Ashland’s government channel, and carries Ashland High School sports.
- Agendas: posted to the town’s Agenda Center at least 48 hours before each meeting, and you can sign up for email or text alerts when one is posted or changed.
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