School Committee Approves Survey Policy, Welcomes BHS Associate Principal

The School Committee at their September 9 meeting addressed a number of ongoing business items and updates as the year begins:

Discussion Points

• Moment of remembrance for Katherine Jeske, a developmental skills instructional assistant at Pine Glen who recently passed away
• Student representative reported on upcoming class activities, freshman elections, and implementation of new phone policy at the high school
• Public participation included concerns about survey policies, particularly regarding opt-in versus opt-out approaches
• Committee reviewed and approved the student handbook for Burlington High School and did a first reading of the middle school and elementary school handbooks; these will be made available for the public to review ahead of the next School Committee meeting
• Discussion about AP courses and testing, with concerns about how testing rates might affect school rankings
• Approval of the Fox Hill School Building 60% construction estimate by the Massachusetts School Building Authority
• Approval of the BHS cost estimate of $334,769,880 by the Committee; the not-to-exceed number of $340,000,000 will be taken to Town Meeting on September 29
• Reports on smooth school opening with positive feedback from administrators

Key Actions

• Approved new Science Club at the middle school with $500 stipend for year one
• Updated Special Olympics stipend, changing from category one to category two ($1,334 to $2,185)
• Approved non-educational student surveys policy and Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) policy
• Approved state-mandated health screenings (vision, hearing, posture, BMI) with opt-out option
• Approved Wayfinder social-emotional learning curriculum pretest with opt-out option (Member Jeremy Brooks opposed, saying opt-out hasn't worked well in the past and he believes such questionnaires should be opt-in only.)
• Building Committee voted to pass Burlington High School project estimate to Select Board

Additional Notes

• New associate principal at the high school, Darrell Braggs, was introduced to the Committee; he brings over a decade of experience as a teacher and school administrator, most recently in Waltham
• Storm damage reported: tree down in high school parking lot and electrical issues affecting field lighting; high school field power has been restored, middle school awaiting repair later this week
• Transportation department making adjustments to bus routes to address overcrowding issues; these go into effect Wednesday, September 10, and affect many routs including high school buses 1, 7, 8, and 14
• Upcoming community outreach events for the BHS project include planning board meeting (Sept 18), info session (Sept 23), and town meeting (Sept 29)
• Committee entered executive session to discuss complaints and collective bargaining matters

The next School Committee meeting is scheduled for September 30, 2025.