MANCHESTER – Here’s your recap of the Monday, January 13, Board of School Committee meeting. You can find the agenda for the meeting here: https://5il.co/34lon. 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.
Smyth Road Chorus performs, Part II
Prior to Monday night's Board of School Committee meeting, Smyth Road School's awesome 4th Grade Chorus, led by Cassie Pepler, performed. You may recall that Mrs. Pepler and the 3rd Grade Chorus performed prior to the last meeting of the board, on December 9.
These performances are part of a continuing series of musical performances for the Board of School Committee during the school year. Thank you to Ms. Pepler, the students and families for joining us for this performance. If you missed the performance, you’ll be able to catch video of it thanks to Manchester Public Television once the meeting video is uploaded to the link above.
Hearing on a donation
One more bit of housekeeping before tonight’s meeting is a hearing on a donation. The donation is $17k from the Red Sox Foundation to support middle school baseball and softball. The $17k donation, in fact, will underwrite the entire cost of the spring season for middle school baseball and softball.
There was no public comment on the donation, so the hearing quickly opened and closed. The board approved the donation as part of the consent agenda during its regular meeting later in the night.
Jewett Street School students lead Pledge of Allegiance
Students from Jewett Street School joined us at Monday night's Board of School Committee meeting to lead the Pledge of Allegiance.
Prior to the meeting, 4th Graders Denzel, Kyroh, Brook, Paxton and Diana had an opportunity to meet Mayor Ruais and school board Members Spillers, Bonilla, Baines, and Argeropoulos.
Thank you to the students and to Jewett Principal Lubelczyk for coordinating.
West football coach recognized
There was one recognition at Monday night’s meeting: West High School football coach Andrew Provencher. Coach Provencher was voted the top high school football coach in the state for 2024, capping off a tremendous, resurgent season for the Blue Knights. You can read more about this recognition on our website: https://www.mansd.org/article/1950683.
Consent agenda
There were no presentations or action agenda items at Monday’s meeting, however there was a jam-packed consent agenda. The consent agenda included items from several committees: Policy, Teaching and Learning, Finance and Facilities, Student Conduct, and Education Legislation. These items start on Page 1 of the agenda packet: https://5il.co/34lon.
Three items were pulled for discussion and the remainder of the consent agenda was approved. The pulled items included:
Equity Student Focus Group: Member Spillers inquired about ensuring that diversity of voices is represented, but more importantly that efforts are made to include students who might not typically be involved
French Dual Language Immersion: Member Turner wanted to ensure there is adequate space for the program
Financial reports: Member Spillers asked about adequacy aid for upcoming year
After some discussion, all items were approved. Some of the other highlights from the consent agenda included:
Approval of new positions serving our multilingual learner student population, including and assistant director of multilingual learner education and language access coordinator
Approval of a coordinator position for dual language programs, as well as for the French-English dual language program to continue development at Webster School
Approval of the 2025-2026 School Calendar
Superintendent’s communications
Next up in Superintendent’s Communications, we had a handful of updates:
Superintendent Chmiel: District has an opportunity to take part in program with delegation from China
Asst. Supt. Doherty: Assessment testing period approaching
Wendy Perron: highlight of two events from the weekend, a family engagement event focused on the Brazilian community, and professional development for a dozen teachers taking part in the Excel Leadership Academy
Asst. Supt. Ransdell: updates on athletics - elementary basketball wrapping up the season; a quick reminder to community on expectations for behavior of spectators at athletics events; highlights major donations received at West, Parkside, and middle school baseball/softball
Adjournment
The meeting then went to non-public session before adjourning
The next full meeting of the Board of School Committee is coming up on Monday, January 27.