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2,000 migrant students added to 74 Massachusetts school districts this academic year

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2,000 migrant students added to 74 Massachusetts school districts this academic year


PEABODY – The migrant crisis in Massachusetts has added about 2,000 students to schools in 74 different districts this academic year, according to the state. 

That means there are about 242 districts still not facing the issue of having a sudden, unexpected influx of migrant children in their systems.

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WBZ-TV graphic

CBS Boston

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“A small handful of communities can’t take on this burden and do it well,” Peabody Superintendent Josh Vadala told WBZ-TV. His district is one of the 74. They’ve added 80 students to Peabody schools since September.

“We’ve been talking to the state. You know, enough is enough,” Vadala said. “We’ve taken on our share and we are doing a good job. If you continue to pile on, we’re worried that we’re not going to be able to provide the same service and then it all falls apart.”

Massachusetts response to migrant student crisis

“We believe deeply that every single student, regardless of circumstance, should have a high-quality education. Every student deserves that,” Massachusetts Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler told WBZ.

Tutwiler said the state is giving those 74 communities what they need, including $105 per student, per day.

“Language barrier is definitely a challenge. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) very quickly stood up translation supports. Mental health is also a significant challenge where we’re seeing really clear manifestations of the hardships that families experience coming here (and) situations where students are not familiar with the typical school routines and that takes a lot of patience,” Tutwiler said.

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What’s worked so far? 

The state has a task force to find solutions and determine what works, Tutwiler said.

“There are so many heartening stories around how districts have really met the moment and really transitioned and welcomed families in robust ways,” he told WBZ.

Tutwiler specifically mentioned Peabody and what Vadala has done there. He has used the whole community to help the whole family, from field trips to experiences outside the classroom. 

Getting to know the families outside the school walls is paying off inside the classroom, according to Vadala.

“I’ve not seen models as robust as what we are doing. It’s not a competition but we are doing our level best to meet the needs of families here,” Tutwiler told WBZ. He said they key to all of this is more money from the federal government.

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Massachusetts

Swimmer pulled from Houghton’s Pond after search

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Swimmer pulled from Houghton’s Pond after search


A teenager was pulled from a pond in Milton, Massachusetts, after he went missing while swimming Saturday night.

The Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office said the teenaged male was taken to a Boston area hospital following the incident at Houghton’s Pond. It’s unclear how long the teen was under water, and there was no immediate word on his condition.

State police had said earlier that they responded to the pond shortly after 7 p.m. for a person who entered the water and didn’t resurface. State police divers, detectives, troopers, and the Milton Fire Department were all on scene involved in the search.

The DA’s office is conducting an investigation with state police that remains ongoing. Further information is not being released at this time.

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This story will be updated when we learn more



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Mass. man charged with posing as teen, exposing himself to 12-, 13-year-old girls

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Mass. man charged with posing as teen, exposing himself to 12-, 13-year-old girls


A Massachusetts man is facing multiple charges for allegedly engaging in inappropriate communications and exposing himself to children.

Orate Kyle Graham, 20, of Bridgewater, was arrested this week on two counts of disseminating obscene material to a minor and one count of accosting or annoying another person.

Bridgewater police said they were made aware Tuesday of allegations involving interactions between several girls age 12 and 13 and an individual known to them only as “Jay.” The individual said he was 17 years old during conversations with the girls through FaceTime and in person.

Through an investigation, police identified “Jay” as Graham, and also found that he had regularly engaged in interactions with the minor victims. During those interactions, he allegedly exposed himself and asked the girls to expose themselves to him.

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He was arrested Thursday and taken to the Plymouth County House of Correction, where he was held on $25,000 bail. The case remains under investigation by Bridgewater police and the Plymouth District Attorney’s Office.



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Fisherman reels in white shark off Massachusetts, then snags the hook from its toothy mouth

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Fisherman reels in white shark off Massachusetts, then snags the hook from its toothy mouth


BILLERICA, Mass. (AP) — Elliot Sudal didn’t need a bigger boat, but he did need to find a way to get a hook out of a shark’s mouth.

Sudal, a veteran angler and boat captain, reeled in the nearly nine-foot shark — also commonly known as a great white shark or a great white — on June 7 on Nantucket. White sharks are a protected species in the U.S. and must be released immediately when accidentally caught.

That presents a nasty problem for a fisherman because the white shark is a formidable apex predator best known for the 1975 movie Jaws, in which Roy Scheider utters the famous line “You’re gonna need a bigger boat” upon seeing the big fish. Sudal, who caught the shark while fishing from shore, decided to use his encounter to demonstrate how to respond to such a situation.

Sudal posted a video of himself removing the hook to his social media accounts. In the video, Sudal climbs onto the back of the shark, secures the fish in the surf, and removes the hook from its mouth. By the end of the short video, the shark is back in the water.

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White sharks typically have about 300 teeth arranged into five rows, so speed was key.

“Hooks out and back on her way in 15 seconds, not sure how to do it better,” Sudal wrote in an Instagram post that included a video of the shark release.

Sudal is no stranger to sharks, and has caught and tagged hundreds of them over the years. He said in a social media post that this month’s encounter with a white shark was the first time he has ever caught one of them in more than a decade of the work.

Sudal’s practices have sometimes attracted the attention of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, such as in 2017, when the agency investigated his handling of a smalltooth sawfish, an endangered species, in Florida. The agency said in 2018 that it sent Sudal a letter “informing him of the Endangered Species Act issues and the safe handling protocol for sawfish.”

White sharks are not listed under the federal Endangered Species Act, but are subject to special federal protections. The International Union for Conservation of Nature considers them vulnerable globally.

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Sightings of white sharks off New England have ticked up in recent years, and some scientists have pinned that to the greater availability of the seals that they prey on. Dangerous encounters between white sharks and humans are extremely rare, and only a few dozen fatal white shark bites on people have ever been recorded.

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Whittle reported from Portland, Maine.

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.





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