MANCHESTER – Here’s your recap of the Monday, February 12, Board of School Committee meeting. The agenda for tonight's meeting is here: https://5il.co/2eg23. Video from the meeting will be posted online by Manchester Public Television. As a reminder, we recap meetings live online at https://twitter.com/mansd_nh. On to the recap:
Northwest Elementary Leads the Pledge of Allegiance
Students from Northwest Elementary School led the pledge of allegiance at Monday's meeting. Before the meeting, students Daniel, Cormac, Steve, Brenna, Brendan and Manuel got to meet Mayor Ruais and check out his office with their families and Committee Members Liz O'Neil (Ward 11) and Carlos Gonzalez (Ward 12). Students were joined by Principal Shelly Larochelle and Assistant Principal Laurie Cloutier for the occasion. You can find photos of the pledge students here.
Students Honored for All-State Music Recognition
In the recognition portion of Monday's meeting, the Board and District recognized students who have been selected for state-wide music festivals. In all, fourteen high school students were selected for all-state festivals, and four middle schoolers were selected for honors band. Thank you to Fine Arts Director Edward Doyle for coordinating, and to all of the music teachers for their support. Congratulations to all of the students recognized – you can read more about the recognitions here: https://www.mansd.org/article/1432716. You can find photos of the students from the meeting here.
Action agenda items
The action agenda for Monday's meeting included two items for approval: the fiscal year 2025 tax cap budget and school food and nutrition budget. Additionally, the agenda included capital improvement projects for fiscal 2025, which was previously approved at the January 8 meeting. The full district budget and food and nutrition budget were each approved, and now move on to the mayor. The next step in the process will be for the mayor to present his budget recommendations.
Consent agenda items
The consent agenda for Monday's meeting included items brought forward for consideration by the Policy, Teaching and Learning, Finance and Facilities, Student Conduct, and Education Legislation Committees. Most notably, these included the 2024-2025 school year calendar, updated job descriptions, policy recommendations and a proposed truancy court pilot program.
All items were approved with the exception of the truancy court pilot, which was tabled, and the changes to Policy Instruction 165, which was referred to the Teaching and Learning Committee for review.
Adjournment
Following updates in superintendent's and board members' communications, the board went into non-public session, and was later adjourned.