MANCHESTER – Here’s your recap of the Monday, September 9, Board of School Committee meeting. The agenda for the meeting is here: https://5il.co/2vu2o. Video from the meeting will be posted online by Manchester Public Television. As a reminder, we provide live updates from full board meetings at https://x.com/mansd_nh.
Pre-meeting performance
Prior to the meeting, board members and the public were treated to a performance from the Central High School Choir. This was the first musical performance before the BoSC this school year, and the choir was already in top form.
You can watch a short video from the performance, which we streamed on Facebook Live, here: https://fb.watch/uw69QUX6b-/.
Note: with no students on deck to lead the Pledge of Allegiance, this week Ward 11 Board Member Liz O’Neil stepped in to do the honors.
Recognition
Kicking off the meeting, the district recognized the work that Bakersville Elementary School has undertaken to launch the state’s first Spanish dual-language immersion program. The program officially launched last week as the school welcomed two classes of kindergartners for the program. In subsequent years, the program will expand to higher grades as the students now in kindergarten move forward.
Bakersville Principal Kate DiBenedetto – who has been instrumental in the planning process for the new program – was on hand to accept the recognition. The district also recognized Amy Gerow and Alanna Langley, the two kindergarten classroom teachers hired to kick off the program.
Presentations
The sole presentation at Monday’s meeting came from Great Schools Partnership, which is working to support the district in its diversity, equity, inclusion and justice efforts. The presentation slides are included in the agenda packet (https://5il.co/2vu2o) starting on Page 2.
As the team from Great Schools noted, the work is broken into 5 target areas: Equity Steering Committee, Equity Ecosystem Review, Cultural Fluency Training, School Equity Teams and Retention and Recruitment. The team has been working with District leadership throughout the summer and would be taking part in district-wide training on Tuesday, Sept. 10. That training, however, will be led by staff who took part in train-the-trainer sessions this summer. You can read more about Great Schools here: https://www.greatschoolspartnership.org/.
Action agenda items
The action agenda included two items, both of which were approved by the board.
The first item was approval of indemnification contract language for several agreements the district has with several outside organizations, including the Granite YMCA and Granite State Independent Living.
The second item was for the purchase of 9 additional school buses for the district’s fleet, following an RFP. The additional buses will help the district cover extracurricular activities and provide reserves when existing buses need maintenance.
Consent agenda items
The consent agenda is approved in full, with only a few items on it: meeting minutes from the 8/26 meeting, plus the updated suicide prevention plan and the 2024-2025 assessment calendar.
Superintendent’s communications
In superintendent’s communications, district leadership provided several updates:
Youth sports: Assistant Superintendent Forrest Ransdell said that elementary basketball would return this year, operating as it had in prior years. While all fifth graders have now moved into the middle schools, he noted that that grade level still has the ability to try out for middle school or elementary school teams.
Grading committee: Assistant Superintendent Nicole Doherty announced that, at the request of Teaching and Learning Committee Chair Karen Soule, the district is pulling together a committee to review grading policies, including the “no-grade” or “NG” policy that was removed last year.
Summer work: Assistant Superintendent Ransdell gave a brief update on facilities work from this summer, noting that a more in-depth update was coming at Finance and Facilities. Work included HVAC projections, paving, painting, carpets, remodeling, playground replacement, installation of door-monitoring systems, grounds and fencing, and, not to be outdone, installation of the new modular buildings. All of this took place as the district operated a robust summer learning program at multiple sites around the city. Ransdell also added that more information was coming on ceremonies related to the closure of Henry Wilson Elementary School.
Opening days: Superintendent Jennifer Chmiel gave a brief update on the opening days of school across the district. She noted that the district continues to closely monitor class sizes as the year begins and the team is working to fill some critical positions at schools.
New business
Vice Chair O’Connell gave an update on the formation of a special committee on athletics. After seeking volunteers, O’Connell noted that the committee would be comprised of Committee members Potter, Bergeron, Parr, Turner and himself. Committee Member Baines raised concerns regarding the formation of the committee. You can read more about that on Manchester Ink Link.
Adjournment
With no further items, the meeting was adjourned. The next full meeting of the board is set for September 23.