WILMINGTON, MA — The Wilmington School Committee met on Wednesday night in what was its shortest meeting in years — just 23 minutes long! Three of the seven School Committee members — Steve Bjork, Peggy Kane and Manny Mulas — were absent.
Below are some highlights from the meeting:
1.) School Committee Chairwoman Julie Broussard handed out certificates of commendation to Wilmington Middle School staffers John Carroll, Dan O’Brien and Melissa Alexis for recently saving the life of a 6th grader who was choking at lunch. WMS School Resource Officer Anthony Fiore was also given a commendation for “going above and beyond the call of duty in his service to the Middle School students and their families.”
#2) Superintendent Mary DeLai was presented with the Massachusetts Association of School Business Officers’ Presidents Award, along with a $1,000 donation to Wilmington Public Schools from a company called RISO, Inc., the sponsor of the award. DeLai announced that, with committee approval, she would use the $1,000 to offset transportation costs that would allow for more Wilmington High School students to compete in the Special Olympics. 6 students participated this year. As many as 18 will be able to attend next year thanks to the donation.
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#3) Wilmington High School Principal Linda Peters highlighted some changes being made to the High School Student Handbook for the 2016-2017 school year:
- The School Committee’s recently adopted Electronic Device Use, Acceptable Use and Social Media Policies have been added to the front of the handbook.
- “Documented college visit” has been added as an excused absence
- If students lose their student ID, they must speak with an Assistant Principal.
- Students now only have 2 weeks to withdraw from a course. It used to be 4 weeks. This change was made, in part, because of the new 84-minute block schedule. A student who joins a new class four weeks in would now be much further behind than under the old schedule.
- Explanation added that Guidance Counselors are assigned on an alphabetical basis and they do no change for the four years.
- A list of expectations and consequences for participation in dances and extracurricular activities has been added. There will no longer be a dance contract that students must sign — it will now be covered under the student handbook sign-off sheet. “One less piece of paper to collect,” noted Peters.
#4) Wilmington Middle School Principal Amy Gerard highlighted some changes being made to the Middle School Student Handbook for the 2016-2017 school year:
- The School Committee’s updated social media and drug and alcohol policies replaced past policies still in the handbook.
- Language surrounding student discipline as it relates to due process was updated to be consistent state law.
- Punishments for infractions were revised to be more consistent. For example, saying an obscenity should get a student a 3-day suspension while using “vulgar language” would only get the student a 2-day detention. Similar punishments have been compared and altered to become more congruent.
#5) Wilmington Schools Director of Business and Finance Paul Ruggiero provided the School Committee with the district’s quarterly financial report. As of June 13, the district is in the black by $14,281 after spending and/or encumbering $36,183,275. The district is projected to remain in the black when the fiscal year ends on June 30.
There were no comments from the audience. There were no board member reports, other than School Committee member Ginny Bonish reminding members of the Facility Master Plan Committee’s Public Presentation on Wednesday, June 29 at 7pm in the Middle School Auditorium, where the future of the PreK-Grade 5 school facilities will be discussed.
Watch the meeting, courtesy of Wilmington Community Television, below:
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