Ep. 64, Last Night @ School Committee: 6/21 Meeting Recap

Last Night At School Committee

Last night’s meeting began with the Superintendent’s Report, which included data on summer program enrollment and a preview of a report coming next week on federal ESSER relief money spending. Notably, the report did not include an update on negotiations with the State Department of Elementary and Secondary Education over their audit of BPS, but when questioned on this, the Superintendent noted that negotiations are ongoing and an update will be shared next week.

The meeting continued with an update on the superintendent search, in which Search Committee Co-Chair Pam Eddinger shared that two of the four finalists recently withdrew from consideration, resulting in the announcement of Mary Skipper and Dr. Tommy Welch as the two finalists. The reasons for these withdrawals were not given, and members of the School Committee expressed disappointment with the outcome of this process but pledged to continue forward.

Following a public comment period with numerous comments about the merger of the Russell and Clap Elementary Schools, there was a vote to approve two side letters of agreement with the bus drivers union that School Committee members were told were integral to approval of a new contract. These letters were unanimously approved. The meeting concluded with a report on the new exam school policy that was lacking in key data, as well as reports from Horace Mann Charter School leaders seeking renewals.

Public interviews for Mary Skipper and Tommy Welch will be held on Thursday and Friday, respectively, with a vote by the School Committee during their next meeting on Wednesday, June 29.

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