School Board Vice-Chair Rachel Anderson was elevated to Chair after a split vote during the School Board’s first meeting after the March elections on Monday.
Anderson, who is in her senior year of her three-year term, and newly re-elected New Ipswich representative Julie Lampinen were voted in as chair and vice-chair respectively during Monday’s meeting, but both votes were split among the five-member board 3-2.
Anderson is replacing former Chair Steve Spratt, who along with School Board member Mike Pellerito, were the dissenting voices on both votes.
The board has been split down the same line on several issues this past year, including in November, when the board agreed to return to an in-person schooling model, with Lampinen, Anderson and School Board member Tom Falter advocating for full-time in-person schooling, and Pellerito and Spratt advocating for caution with a hybrid model where only half the student body attended at a time.
In January, following a remote learning period after the holidays, the board was split again on the same lines about returning to school four or five days a week for all students.
In other Mascenic district news, the district has also announced several updates to its COVID-19 policies, including an updated policy for travel quarantine.
As the vaccine rollout continues across the state and country, the district has been contacted by the Monadnock Community Health Network to provide vaccines to staff, and the possibility of a source of vaccinations for the district staff.
The district has sent a roster of faculty and staff, including the district’s bus drivers and SAU employees, to the MCHN, and staff are slated to receive the vaccination – however the district has yet to be informed of a specific timeline for when its employees will be able to recieve the shot.
The district entered a period of remote learning after the winter holidays, in part because of the number of staff who planned to travel over the vacation and were required to quarantine upon their return.
The new policy, the district has announced, allows those returning from domestic travel – within the United States – do not need to quarantine upon their return. Those who travel internationally still are required to either quarantine, or have the option to take a COVID-19 test six or seven days after their return, and may return to work with a negative result. Staff are still required to notify nurses and principals of all travel plans, whether it is domestic or international.
As winter ends and spring begins, the district will continue to provide free meals for all of the students within the district, at least through September 30, 2021. The meals are provided as part of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020.
Meal deliveries are only available on Tuesdays, and provide food to cover breakfast and lunch Tuesday through Friday. The district is no longer providing Friday deliveries. On Mondays, parents may pick up meals at the Monadnock Regional High School Cafeteria, located at the back of the school, between the hours of 10 a.m. and 11 a.m.
The district does plan to continue to hold practices and games for its line up of spring sports, through schedules have not yet been decided. The lineup of spring sports is expected to begin within the next few weeks.
Graduation has been set for the class of 2021. The School Board approved a graduation date of June 4, with a rain date of June 5 for the ceremony. Further details on the ceremony to come.